


Black Feather Song (rewrite)

by PippinSqueaks



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Calm Calm Fruit, Canon Compliant, Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt folks, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone is dragged into the Straw Hat agenda, Exes, F/M, Fluff, Katya just wants to sing, Mutual Pining, OC has Cora’s fruit, Past Relationship(s), RIP to Law’s blood pressure, Reconciliation, Slow Burn, angsty fluff, kind of, musician oc, no beta we die like men, none of this pirate shit, pretty much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:29:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 57,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PippinSqueaks/pseuds/PippinSqueaks
Summary: Sabaody Archipelago was Katya’s place to start afresh. After leaving the North Blue four years ago, she had made her way to the Grand Line to begin her singing career.Unfortunately, Katya’s days of peace and budding stardom are about to be interrupted by the arrival of the Supernovas.Why did she have to run into the one pirate that had broken her 16 year old heart all those years ago? More crucially, why was it suddenly so important to him, and some shady underworld figure known as ‘Joker’, that she had eaten some weak Devil Fruit last year.It was only the Calm Calm Fruit. It was nothing that special....was it?(REWRITE OF BLACK FEATHER SONG)
Relationships: Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	1. The Singer of Sabaody

A purple coat swished gently in the breeze of the open air of Sabaody Archipelago. The sun was beginning to wane into the reddish hues of the afternoon as the owner of said coat walked quietly towards Grove 13. If anyone had bothered to look her way, they may have noticed that, as the brown haired woman walked, her feet didn’t make a sound, even with the long boots she had on. 

Takimi Katya hummed to herself as she approached one of her favourite places on the island. She had been settled on the archipelago for a year now. It was good for business, being in between Paradise and the New World. Simple to distribute Tone Dials with songs, plus there were many groves with decent sized performance areas. Perfect for a musician looking to make a name for themselves in the industry. 

Katya smiled to herself. It had been a tough, but ultimately the best decision to follow her dream and come to the Grand Line. The North Blue, where her hometown of Forhargo was, had been her home for many years, but the Grand Line was where you went to be noticed in the world. Singers such as her relied on audience members and record deals; the most renowned and lucrative contracts were all made at Sabaody. Its popularity with both civilians and pirates meant that record companies could make more money there than in the rest of the Blues. The companies, although they paid lip service to the Marines and World Government, didn’t completely hate pirates. Pirates loved a good song, after all. 

Katya yawned slightly as she pushed open the door to her destination, a rather run-down bar, where a tall woman greeted her. 

“Ah, hello, Katya-san, how have you been?”

“Please, Shakky, you can speak informally to me. You always said I could with you.” Katya smiled at the bartender as she climbed onto the bar stool and slid her purple coat off her shoulders. “Where’s your infamous husband?”

“Out somewhere causing trouble, no doubt. The usual?”

“Please,” Katya shrugged off her bag. “I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve come to see you. Please accept my apologies.”

“It’s never a problem, you’re busy, being who you are. Had a few Marines in here the other day who were complaining about temporary deafness.” Shakky smirked. “Figured it was your work.”

“You had Marines in here?”

“Eh, a few on occasion. They never come back, of course, once they realise who usually frequents this place.”

“Bunch of idiots, really.” Katya took a sip of the large margarita that Shakky had placed in front of her. It was early in the afternoon, but her manager had been crankier than usual that morning and she needed a reprieve from the stress of the day. “Can’t get any better company than pirates. Well, most pirates.”

“Not all pirates are the same, though. Had some big-shot rookie come in yesterday. Red hair, mouthy. Had purple lipstick, interestingly.”

“Shit, Kid’s here?” Katya cursed. 

“You know him?” Shakky inquired with interest. 

“We crossed paths when I was away on business a few months ago.” Crossed paths was a light word for it. She had sang at the request of a pirate family that had been celebrating on an island and Kid had been there. The man had immediately taken a liking to her and hit on her after the concert. Katya had had quite a few drinks, as had Kid. She’d woken up in an unfamiliar bed with a headache and lots of regrets, with the red haired man snoring next to her. She’d attempted a speedy exit, one that Kid was not best pleased about. If it were not for her Devil Fruit, she would never have gotten off the island without notice. 

“My my, you do know how to pick them,” Shakky continued, picking up on her mood. “Apparently there’s quite the gathering going to happen soon.”

“Oh?” Katya lowered her drink. “A gathering?”

“The rookies with bounties above 100 million, they’re all getting closer to the Archipelago.” Shakky poured herself a drink and leaned onto the bar. “Maybe you’ll run into some this evening. Where did they pick for you to perform tonight?”

“Eh, near the amusement park. It’s not a bad spot. Hopefully a bigger audience this evening. It’ll take my mind off the issues at the studio earlier.” Katya took another long sip of her cocktail. “Any word on whether any of those rookies are around there?”

“A few crews have been spotted there today. You’ll have a good audience, if a rowdy one if reputations are to be believed.”

Katya nodded her head, before flicking back a piece of brown hair that had fallen in her face. 

“The world’s changing, young one.” Shakky placed a bottle of whisky on the bar and poured herself a small glass. “I have a feeling that something big will be coming. I know you are good at keeping yourself out of trouble, but the more your music sells, the more of a target you could be. You know how the Tenryubito can be.”

Katya understood perfectly. The Celestial Dragons were often the reason many singers didn’t stay popular for long on the Archipelago. They would demand performers be taken to Mariejois for their own entertainment. Katya, despite being only 22, had been doing well for herself. Her tone dials were selling well, even if her manager Garkin was a sleazy asshole. It was a risk she’d been willing to take though for her music to reach more people. 

“I’ll be careful.”

“Take the longer way to the amusement park today, Grove 15 had a lot of ships around today. Some slavers, by the looks of it, and a pirate submarine.”

“Not many crews have a sub these days.” Katya arched an eyebrow in interest. “Though I guess they are good for stealth.”

Shakky smirked “It’s not exactly stealthy. It’s bright yellow.”

“What kind of idiot has a bright yellow submarine?” Katya snorted, and picked up her coat. “Any other crews around that area?” 

“Several other Supernovas are wandering around the island. The rumours about most of the Supernova crews aren’t great. The Straw Hat Pirates intrigue me most, though.” Shakky finished her drink. 

“Straw Hat Luffy...the ones that stormed Enies Lobby.” Katya mused.

“You’re not old to recognise the hat, but I know you know the one that used to own it.”

“Hm? I know them?”

Shakky giggled. “Shanks always was your favourite audience.”

“RED HAIR?! That hat belongs to him?” Katya gaped in shock. “Maybe I’ll have to meet this Straw Hat kid. If Shanks liked him enough to give it to him, well...”

“You never told me the story of how you met him, you know~” Shakky poured out another glass of whiskey for herself. 

“He was visiting an island just inside the New World. I was there for a few days myself; we were in the same bar and performed for his crew.” Katya shrugged. Knowing one of the Yonkou was a feat that most would brag about, but Katya didn’t care about bounties or status. Those she performed for were the same thing at the end of the day, an audience, ones that would hopefully tip. Red Hair Shanks had tipped well, even if it was in booze.

“My my, you do know some interesting people, Kat.” 

“All part of my weird life, Shakky.” Katya picked up her coat and handed over the Beri for her drink to Shakky. The drinks weren’t cheap, hence the “Rip-Off” claim to the bar, but the company was excellent. “I’ll come by soon.” She gave the woman a wink. “Say hi to your husband for me.”

“He’ll be sad he missed you.” Shakky waved her out of the door.

Katya wrapped her coat around her and began the long walk towards the amusement park. It was time to go and see Garkin to continue negotiating about her new song. She hated the man, but he was a good manager on the business front. Now she just had to hope she didn’t run into any of those Supernovas. Unless she ran into HIM. Then, Supernova or not, she was going to deafen the man who had dumped her without warning permanently. 

~

Trafalgar Law sneezed slightly as he walked down the streets of a shopping district with his crew. 

“Bless you.” Bepo said. 

“Someone must be talking about you, Captain.” Shachi remarked with a smile, nudging Penguin. 

“It had better not be Eustass-ya, I’ve had enough of him already today.” Law grumbled back. 

The four Heart Pirates were on their way to rendezvous with Ikkaku, who had been shopping for supplies. The men hadn’t wanted her to go alone and she had threatened them several times as well as ranting about her ability to take care of herself before taking Harris and Connor with her to help shopping after Law told her it was an order. They were in dangerous territory after all. He didn’t want any of his crew harmed. 

“Shachi, Penguin, I’m going to look into the timings for our investigation tomorrow at Grove 1 with Bepo. You two meet the others and be back to the ship within two hours. Keep your Den-Den Mushis on hand. We’ll sort out supplies, then you can all have the evening off. Stick to the tourist areas, though.”

“Yes, Captain!” The two saluted cheerily. 

The two men watched their Captain and Bepo leave before continuing down the street. Shachi yawned lazily as they ambled around by the shops. 

“Where is Ikkaku supposed to be again?” He turned to his companion. 

“She said she was looking for some books for Captain, plus some entertainment for us all. We got the essentials yesterday.” 

“Entertainment...” Shachi began to daydream. 

“Not that kind, idiot.” Penguin poked him in the ribs. “Some music and card games and things.”

Shachi snorted. “Good luck to her on the music, that’s for sure.” 

“Why do I need luck?” A sharp voice interrupted from behind them. The two engineers jumped and turned to face the only female members of their crew. 

“Ah, Ikkaku, we were just-“

“You two are here to help me, correct?”

“Yeah, but...” Penguin looked around. “Where are Connor and Harris?”

“I sent them back to the ship with a bunch of things already.”

“How much did you buy?!”

“It was within the budget.” Ikkaku shrugged. “Come on, I was about to look in this music store.”

The two followed her into a large record store, which sold traditional records as well as Tone Dials with multiple artists from across the Blues. An elderly man greeted them as they entered. 

“Welcome, welcome, anything I can help you with today?”

“We were hoping to find something to listen to. Long-lasting quality if possible, we have a long journey ahead of us.” Ikkaku smiled warmly at the man. For all her sharp words to her fellow crew members, she had a soft spot for young children and the elderly. 

“Hm, well, do you have a favoured style of music?”

“Not particularly. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Oh, yes!” The man smiled brightly and handed her a record set.

“Hm, ‘Silena Siren’...” She read aloud. 

“AHHHH!” Penguin suddenly screeched. “Put that back if you value your life, Ikkaku!” 

“What?” She balked. 

Shachi was shaking his head vigorously. “Silena Siren is banned listening on the ship! The last time....” He paled. 

“Is it bad?” Ikkaku arched an eyebrow. 

Penguin grimaced. “Quite the opposite. She’s great, it’s just...well, she wrote a few songs that anger Captain.”

“Not just anger Captain, they make him downright murderous!”

“Okay you two clearly know more about this than me.” Ikkaku turned over the cover and looked at the songs. “It looks good, though.”

“Ikkaku, we can’t have it on the ship, trust us!” 

“Why not?! Be clear with me!” She hissed at them. 

“Because some of the songs are about Captain!” Penguin blurted out and Shachi clapped his hand over his companion’s mouth. 

“Don’t speak of it, Pen, he’ll know!”

“.........you’re shitting me.” Ikkaku looked incredibly shocked. “Why would someone write songs about Law?”

“They’re old songs, but...well, he knew her. We knew her.” Penguin continued. 

“Oh, you two know Siren-san?” The old man cut in, smiling at them. 

“YOU know her?!” The two men screeched loudly.

“Why yes,” the shop owner gently walked over to the wall by the far side of the store. He gestured to a small section of the wall that had a variety of photographs with the man and various famous people. Penguin spotted some truly remarkable faces, including Portgas D. Ace, Silvers Rayleigh and Garp the Hero. “Lots of people pass through here. Siren-san was kind enough to sign a copy for me.” 

Next to a framed - and signed - record that was identical to the one in Ikkaku’s hands was a photograph that looked recent. It had a young woman smiling next to the shop owner. She had bright blue eyes and brown hair cut to shoulder length. She was pretty, Ikkaku noted, with a dash of light freckles across her nose. 

“Katya-chan....” Shachi gasped. “She’s changed so much.”

“How do you two know her?” Ikkaku finally asked. 

“Because....” Penguin sighed after a long pause. “She was almost a Heart Pirate.”


	2. How To Be A Heartbreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shachi and Penguin recall how they first met Katya in the North Blue. Meanwhile, a business proposition has the singer on edge.

“You two need to tell me this story.” Ikkaku sat on a bench just outside the music shop. She’d told the elderly man, Morton, that they would be back in a moment. The bubbles of Sabaody floated around them as she faced the two men. She noted that they looked sad; it was not something she typically saw on the faces of the two engineers. 

“It was about six years ago now,” Penguin explained. “It was only myself, Shachi, Bepo and Captain at that point. We’d been trying to make our way around the North Blue. Anyway, we stopped off at this island, Forhargo. They had an advanced medical centre there and Captain wanted to stay for a while to glean knowledge from the people that worked there. Plus, there was little Marine presence. That’s where we met Katya-chan. She was singing in a pub we went to...”

“Captain was days away from turning eighteen,” Shachi continued. “We’d been on Forhargo a week? A week and a half?”  
He looked to Penguin for confirmation, and the man nodded. 

“Anyway, we went to a bar to celebrate Captain being allowed to shadow the doctors in the medical centre. He’d intervened and managed to operate on a patient for six consecutive hours and saved a man from death!”

Ikkaku grinned. “He’s a great doctor, that doesn’t surprise me. Even if he was 17.”

“A couple of drinks down and several of the patrons began to talk of the singer that would be going on. A local girl called Katya but Silena Siren was her stage name, as you’ve probably guessed. Kat was only 16, but everyone talked about her with such excitement.” Penguin continued. 

“She had had the voice of an angel.” Shachi had a wistful expression. “Ikkaku, I’ve never heard a more beautiful voice in all my life. It was like time stopped when she sang.”

“Yeah, and it distracted the other people in the bar from trying to figure out what Bepo was.” Penguin snorted. “He kept apologising, as usual. But either way, after the show, Katya had tried to bribe the barkeep for a drink for herself right next to us. Apparently it was something that happened often,” he grinned. “But then it happened!”

“What happened?” Ikkaku said with curiosity. 

“CAPTAIN. BLUSHED.” Shachi cut in with excitement. 

“WHAT?!” Ikkaku leaned forward in her seat, before waving her arms. “Not possible, I don’t believe it.”

“Yeah, he went totally red. Bepo kept asking if he was feeling well. Poor guy.” Penguin snickered. 

“About ten minutes later, she came up to us anyway. She said she’d heard rumours of a ‘kid doctor and a bear’ on the island and wanted to find out what was going on. We all started talking, and that was that. Whilst we stayed on the island, Katya became our friend, much to the annoyance of her aunt. She used to try to smack with a broom every time we came by her house!”

Ikkaku laughed heartily at the image of Law, Bepo, Shachi and Penguin being chased away by an angry woman. 

“Don’t laugh, Ikkaku! She was scary! Katya snuck out to see us anyway. Her and Captain became really close over the eight months we were there. It was...peaceful. Probably the longest we’ve ever stayed anywhere since the Heart Pirates were formed.”

“So what made you leave?” Ikkaku said with an arched eyebrow. “They broke up?”

“We barely know.” Penguin said. “Captain came back to the ship one evening with a large red mark on his face and ordered us to leave the island immediately, and that we wouldn’t be returning. It was horrible. Bepo cried and begged to go back twice to say goodbye but Captain refused. He told us never to talk about her again. All we ever got out of him was that he asked her to come with us out to sea and it went badly.”

“Wow.” Ikkaku whistled. “Sounds like one hell of a breakup.”

Penguin glanced at Shachi. “We could tell he regretted how things had been left, but he never spoke of her again after that.” He sighed. “Katya was one of our best friends. Smart, funny, and her and Captain...well, I think they really loved each other.”

“I can’t imagine Captain being in love.” 

“It had to be seen to be believed. Two years ago, though, we heard a song in a small record shop on our way here. Most of you were on the ship. It was one she had written for Captain not long before we left. She’d played it to us to get our opinion. It was meant for Captain’s birthday, but he never got to hear it. It was her breakthrough single, according to the owner. We recognised it immediately, but then we listened to the rest of the album.” Shachi winced. “It was NOT good.”

Ikkaku turned over the record in her hands, looking at the song titles. “I take it that ‘All You Had To Do Was Stay’ and ‘Bad Medicine’ were some of the more offending ones?”

“Captain destroyed the shop after he heard them. Plus most of the island.”

Ikkaku’s eyes widened. “Wait, was that the one with the marine base? Where Captain got a bounty increase?”

The two nodded and Ikkaku stood up thoughtfully. She walked back into the shop as the two sat on the bench. From where they were sat, they could see the picture of Katya on the wall through the shop window. 

“I hope she’s doing well.” Penguin murmured. “It’s been so long.”

Shachi nodded. The two sat in silence for a few more minutes until Ikkaku emerged from the shop with a smile on her face. 

“YOU BOUGHT THE ALBUM?!” The two screeched, looking at the item in her hands. Ikkaku grinned mischievously.

“And I got tickets to her concert tonight! It’s by the amusement park. We’re all going!”

The two sunk to the ground. “We’re all DEAD if Captain finds out.”

“Then it’ll be our secret. We have the night off, after all. I want to see if she’s as good at singing as you claim.”

~

Garkin chewed on his cigar as Katya surveyed the stage for the concert. The purple lights were in place and she smiled happily. Impromptu concerts were oddly good marketing. They advertised them on the week of the concert only, and it meant that only those on the archipelago could attend. No point selling tickets months in advance; there were so many travellers that not many stayed on the island for longer than the log pose took to set. 

“Oi,” Garkin turned to Katya. “I had an offer through the higher-ups for you.”

“Oh?” Katya’s nose wrinkled at the scent of the pungent cigars her manager was partial to. 

“Got sponsorship for your new album.”

Katya’s eyes sparkled. “Really?!” She clapped her hands together. A sponsor was rare to get, and it meant lots of studio time and marketing. It could seriously boost her career. 

“Mm. Some Saint Charloss. He likes your music.”

“Saint? Y-you mean...”

“You got a problem with that, brat?” Garkin squinted his beady eyes at her. 

‘You know how the Tenryubito can be’ Shakky’s words echoed in her head. 

“I’m going to have to decline, Garkin-san.” Katya said. The man’s face began to go purple and his teeth clenched around his disgusting cigar. 

“You know what the sponsorship of a Dragon could be? We could make millions! You ungrateful piece of-“

“Garkin-san, your meeting is here!” Another voice called from beside the stage.

“This discussion isn’t over, bitch. You will take that contract, or you’re done.” Garkin spat. 

Katya scowled in return. Garkin was a money-hungry asshole who didn’t care about anyone except himself. He still made her sing her debut single, ‘Fever’, at every concert as it was her most popular song. She had only sung it in the first place as it was the most popular song she had sung as she’d travelled. She didn’t even like to sing it. Too memories of Law. But it was the song that had first gotten the attention of record producers and had given her her first big break. 

She went backstage and began to change into her white performance dress. It glittered with purple sparkles, but even its beauty had not improved her mood. 

Activating her Devil Fruit, she made the room soundproof. She rarely used the fruit, unless she wanted to go unnoticed in a crowd. Or escape from red haired pirates that she’d had a drunken one-night stand with. But right now she really wanted to kick something and not be disturbed. 

The Calm Calm Fruit, it was called. She had acquired it around a year ago at a market. The lady that had found it had just assumed it was a new kind of pear she hadn’t seen before. Katya had tried it and realised too late what it was. The taste had been beyond awful, like someone had shoved ash, a rotting corpse and vomit down her throat. She had looked it up in a Devil Fruit book guide several months later and identified it as the Calm Calm Fruit. 

As far as Katya was concerned, it didn’t really do much aside from provide stealth when she wanted it. She had also figured out how to temporarily deafen people, usually creeps who had tried to hit on her after a show. The only people who even knew she had it were her aunt, whom she still wrote to frequently, Shakky, Rayleigh, and Garkin. Garkin only knew because of how many times she had used it in the studio to focus on writing her music. 

“Stupid bastard.” She muttered, kicking her chair again. The door suddenly opened and Katya quickly deactivated her fruit. 

“Two minutes time to curtain, Siren-san.”

“Thank you, James-san, I’ll be there in a moment.”

Katya grabbed her microphone. Worrying about Garkin and his insane contract idea could wait until after the show. 

~

“Ikkaku, this isn’t a good idea! What if Captain finds out?” Shachi pleaded with the excited woman as she, Penguin and six other members of the Heart Pirates made their way towards the amusement park stage area. 

“He’s with Bepo. Besides, he said we could have a free night so long as we watched our backs. Plus, won’t it be nice to see your old friend?”

“Of course, but-“

“Then it’s settled!” Ikkaku waved her hand dismissively at the two worried engineers. 

“Silena Siren...” Harris read the flyer that Ikkaku had given the crew to Jake, the Heart Pirates cook. “The beauty from North Blue.”

“She sounds amazing~” The male members of the crew began to daydream. They hadn’t been filled in on the situation by those in the know. For them, this was a case of just a fun night out. 

A loud cheer interrupted Penguin and Shachi’s mild panic attack and they heard music playing. 

“We’re going to be late, come on!” Ikkaku ran towards the sound, tugging along the two by their boiler suits. 

The crew entered and they clambered towards the stage. There were lots of pirates and citizens alike in attendance. The lights and music were bright and loud. It was a great atmosphere and their crew mates looked ecstatic. It had been a tough few weeks getting to the end of Paradise, so it was nice to see them relaxed. Shachi and Penguin looked up at the stage and gasped. 

Katya was stood on the stage, a spotlight upon her. Purple sparkles were all over her white skater dress. Her hair was done up in an elegant twist and she had tiny purple feathers on her eyelashes. She was dazzling, and even more beautiful than she had been when they had last seen her.

“She’s so...”

“...Womanly.” 

The two began to turn into a puddle before Ikkaku pulled them to their feet. 

“But you held your pride like you should have held me...” Katya sang on the stage. “Oh, I'm scared to see the ending, why are we pretending this is nothing? I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how....I've never heard silence quite this loud!”

“She’s so good!” Connor cheered. “Thanks for the tickets, Ikkaku!” The rest of the crew cheered in agreement and began to dance in an incredibly goofy manner, aside from Dan, one of the medical officers, who merely rolled his eyes at them. 

Ikkaku began to lose herself in the music. Despite the impression she’d gotten from the two engineers, very few of the songs were actually break-up songs, and the woman on stage certainly had a lot of talent. Shachi and Penguin began to enjoy themselves too. Halfway through one of the songs, they turned to Ikkaku. 

“We’re really glad you made us come, Ikkaku. It’s so great to see how far Katya-chan has come.”

“You like it, steal it, gotta beat 'em to the treasure~” Katya’s voice echoed around the stadium. “A right of passage- bad just doesn't get much better!”

“Hey, Captain!” A voice behind Shachi and Penguin made them freeze. Harris was talking into the Den-Den Mushi. “We’re at a concert by the amusement park! It’s a singer from the North Blue, she’s called-“ 

“AHHHH!” Shachi and Penguin dived for the small snail and ended up tackling Harris to the floor. 

“Oi, wh-“ the connection cut out. 

“There's so many ways to be wicked...” Katya finished her song and the crowd roared. 

“Yeah, we’re screwed.” Ikkaku said bluntly.


	3. A Concert At The Amusement Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya performs for a crowd and the Heart Pirates are busted by their Captain.

“Thank you so much everyone! Please enjoy some drinks, we’ll be back in a few minutes!” Katya said happily to the cheering crowd, then exited the stage. She wiped her brow with a small handkerchief as soon as she got off stage and took a long swig of water handed to her by James. She smiled gratefully at him and the man blushed sweetly. 

“Hey, you can’t be back here!” A voice sounded from not far off and there was a loud crash. Katya put down her water and went to see what the fuss was about. Probably some annoying creeps trying to get backstage again. 

“KATYA-CHAN!” Two figures ran towards her with several security guards in pursuit. Katya whipped her head around to see two faces she never thought she’d see ever again. 

“Shachi? Pen?” She gasped loudly and ran to greet them. Katya flung her arms around them and hugged the two tightly. 

“Siren-san!”

“It’s okay, Barry, I know these two.” She waved off the security. 

“K-Katya-chan.” The two men murmured, squashed into her chest.

“Oops, sorry!” She released them and wiped the tears that had come to her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“We saw you were performing! We had to see you!”

“You two always were my biggest fans.” She laughed before her face fell slightly into an angry expression. She jabbed the two men in the ribs, causing them to fall backwards, winded. “So why did you never say goodbye?! Or call!”

“We....” Penguin groaned in pain. “We wanted to. Captain said no!”

“He’s not with you, is he?” 

“No, not right now!” Shachi sweat dropped. “It’s just us. And-wait. You still have the necklace?”

Katya fiddled with the charm on her necklace. It had been given to her by Law. A tiny silver stethoscope charm hung from the delicate chain. 

“I mean, yeah, it’s important to me. It reminds me how far I’ve come. Plus it reminds me of more than just him. It reminds me of you two.”

The two began to sniffle. “We missed you!”

“Coming through, losers.” Ikkaku joined them and put an arm over Shachi’s shoulder. “Hi, Katya-san. Big fan!”

Katya observed the Heart Pirate boiler suit the woman was wearing. Were she and Law...? No, she shook the idea from her head. No need to entertain those thoughts. “Nice to meet you too. I take it you’re headed for the New World with these crazy guys?”

“We’re not crazy! We fought our way through the Grand Line!” Shachi took a rather ridiculous fighting stance which made Katya laugh. 

“Most sane people would call that crazy.”

“How did you get here, Katya-chan?” Penguin asked abruptly.

“Hitched a ride with some ships, mostly. Paid my passage through tips I earned from shows. Made my way here. I’ve been here about ten months. It’s a good place for shows, plus I didn’t like the idea of being around water much more.”

“Why not? Wait, Katya-chan, did you eat a Devil Fruit?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing exciting, but I still can’t swim, so ships seem a bit more daunting now.” A little blush settled over her freckled face. 

“Brat!” Garkin’s voice called and the pudgy man stormed up to her and the trio of Heart Pirates. “I’ve got the representatives of Saint Charloss on the phone and they aren’t happy!”

“Tell them to stick their offer up their fat, rich asses, Garkin. I perform for the people, not some assholes who will drag me away to perform privately for them after ten minutes of me signing the contracts.” Katya squared off against the man, who looked like he would explode with anger. 

“This is your last chance, brat. You tell them yes or you can kiss your second album goodbye!”

“Then I guess I’ll be a one album girl.” Katya retorted back stubbornly. 

“You’re fired!” 

“Cool.” She said calmly. “I’m going to finish my show now. It was so good to see you, guys. I’ll be rooting for you to not get eaten by sea kings. Give Bepo-sama my love.”

“SAMA?!” Shachi and Penguin cried. “We feel slighted!”

Katya winked and ran back towards the preparation area. She was going to finish her final show her way.

~

The trio had gone back into the crowd as and had joined the others. Shachi noticed Bepo make his way towards them, along with a very furious looking Law. 

“Shachi-ya...” Law’s voice was deep and angry sounding. “Penguin-ya, I think we need to have a talk.”

The two men clung to each other. “BEPO, SAVE US!”

“Oh, it’s Katya-chan!” Bepo looked up at the stage which had turned into a singular spotlight. His eyes became watery. “Katya-chaaaaan! I’ve missed her!”

Law grabbed Shachi and Penguin by the scruff of the neck. “You two are on laundry duty for a month. We’re leaving.”

“Aye, aye!” The two said meekly. 

“Bepo, we-“ Law turned to his the Mink, who was crying. 

“Look, Captain...”

Law looked up at the stage. Katya held up a microphone to her lips. The glint of her necklace did not go unnoticed by Law. She still wore it? 

“Ladies, gentlemen, pirates, lovers of music, I’m afraid I’ve been fired!” Katya grinned and threw her hands into the air. “But before I go, I would like to sing one more song before I get inevitably thrown out by security. I’ll let it be a crowd request!”

A multitude of voices cried out various titles. 

“Bad Case of Loving You!”

“All You Had To Do Was Stay!”

“Fever!”

“Yeah, Fever!”

“Fever, fever, fever!” The crowd begin to chant and Katya put on a smile. Of course they’d want her most popular song. 

“Aw, you guys love the classics. Fever it is!”

“Captain’s song...” Penguin murmured. 

Law was rather taken aback himself. She still sang Fever, after all these years? He had only listened to it once. He’d managed to overhear her practicing it for his birthday. He’d never told Shachi or Penguin. But that, the necklace...

“I've been bitten by the bug and I'm coming down with, oh, something that can't be cured~” Katya began to sing to the now cheering crowd.   
“There ain't a doctor in this town who is more qualified than you, yeah, to be so adored~”

“I can’t believe she still sings it.” Shachi said to Penguin, who nodded in agreement. 

“Captain, we should go and say hello after the show!” Bepo beamed and turned around. Law’s eyes were hidden by his hat. 

“So tell me what do you prescribe for these symptoms: a heart beating faster and work is a disaster...” 

“We’re going.” Law said. “We have things to do.”

Bepo nodded his head in resignation and the Heart Pirates began to leave. 

“Fever sure has got me good. What you do when fever takes hold? I can't help but need this drug...Don't you feel the fever like I do?”

Law gripped Kikoku tighter. She had written that song as a surprise for him. Katya...she was still so talented and beautiful. But she had refused to become a pirate. 

He thought back to the night he’d left Forhargo. She couldn’t be a singer if she was a pirate, she’d argued. Why couldn’t Law just be a normal doctor and stay with her? To travel the world together when they were older, rather than pillage his way down the Grand Line?

He couldn’t. He was going to avenge Cora-san. Law never told her about him. He’d nearly told her so many times, but it was so painful, and she’d only pity him. They’d fought, and he’d left, and now he was leaving again. 

~

“Thank you, everyone! Hopefully I’ll see you all again someday! Any record producers that are interested in my work, I’m often around Grove 13!” She waved with a large grin, spotting Garkin, purple in the face, at the side of the stage. 

She bounced off the stage and handed her microphone to James, who was shaking with fear as Garkin bounded over. 

“BRAT!”

“Garkin?” Katya scowled as she turned to face him. “Come to hire me back?”

“Don’t you take that informal tone, with me, you bitch! You’re costing me lots of money!”

Katya glared at the cigar smoking man. “I’m not performing for the Dragons.”

“Fine!” Garkin shouted. “Then I can just sell you to them!” Two large men came up behind Katya and grabbed her. She struggled in their grip and growled at her ex-manager. 

“Get your hands off me, you bastards!”

“Saint Charloss is going to be at the human auction tomorrow. I’m betting you’ll fetch me a better price that way. I’ll even tell them about your Devil Fruit, that’ll bump up the bidding.” He smiled slyly. “Goodbye, Katya. You’re about to make me a nice lump sum.”

“Suck a dick, you piece of-“ A large fist collided with Katya’s jaw and she collapsed to the floor. The last thing she saw was a blurry pair of handcuffs coming towards her wrists.


	4. The Auction House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya finds herself at the mercy of slavers, and several Supernovas make their way to the auction house.

“That bastard.” Katya spat as she was led into the cells behind the auction house. Garkin would pay for this. The cells were not crowded, but that was because most of the space was taken up by a giant. There were a few other people sat in the shadows. 

“Hey, give me the neck ring! I’ll put this on her.” Disco, the owner of the auction house, was nearby, holding up a collar above a young mermaid with green hair. “Make sure to hold her down!”

“A mermaid...” Katya breathed out. She’d only seen a few in her lifetime. She’d been to the New World once for a show, and had gone very briefly through Fishman Island. She’d gotten food poisoning on the way, so the journey had been mostly spent for her retching over a toilet. 

Mermaids generally avoided the archipelago though. They could fetch a high price at the auction. Katya felt a tug of fear in her chest for the poor mermaid, who was struggling against those trying to put the collar on her. 

“No!” The mermaid cried and Disco laughed. All of a sudden, a wave of energy shook through the cells. 

“Such power...” Katya gasped. It was a struggle for her to stay conscious, and she began to feel rather nauseated, but she managed to stay upright. Most of the other prisoners had collapsed. 

“Disco-san!” The slavers cried and rushed over to the now collapsed head of the auction house. “Someone get a doctor!”

Katya, despite her Seastone cuffs, shook off her guards and rushed forward to the mermaid. It was exhausting. The odd wave of energy plus the drain on her due to the seastone was making her feel utterly horrible. She put her hand on the young mermaid’s arm comfortingly. “Shhhh, it’s okay. What’s your name?”

“C-Caimie.”

“I’m Katya. Don’t worry; we’re going to be alright.” The lie slipped through her teeth. “I’ll stay with you as long as I can.” 

“Get in your cells!” 

The two were hauled to their feet by Katya’s guards and shoved back inside. They put next to each other beside the giant. Katya thought there was someone else on the other side, but she couldn’t see them behind the giant’s bulk. She held the young mermaid’s hands and occasionally wiped her tears as the auction began. Maybe she’d be able to get away if she could get the keys to the seastone cuffs. Hopefully, she could take this poor young mermaid with her. 

~

“I’m still not sure about this, Captain.” Shachi said nervously as the four Heart Pirates made their way into the Grove 1 Auction Hall the next morning. 

“We’re here for intel, Shachi-ya.” Law replied. The Captain of the Heart Pirates was thankfully less grouchy that morning. The incident with the concert had left him in a foul mood, but watching X Drake fighting with the other Supernovas had cheered him up considerably. Watching his rivals fight each other was top quality entertainment. The human auction, however, was less entertaining. Law had insisted the others make sure that the ship was ready for departure, so only Shachi, Penguin and Bepo had accompanied him.

The first half of the auction sped by and the Heart Pirates had been on alert. Law had adopted a laid-back attitude as he sat, but his eyes darted around the room, analysing every move of the auction and its crowd. 

“Aaaaand next up, we have a lovely family of four. Hard workers, in fit shape for any manual labour needs. Do I hear 3 million Beri?” Disco’s voice echoed through the Grove 1 Auction House.

Law crossed his arms. This auction was taking a long time, and still no information about Joker.

A loud cry came from backstage, making Law’s ears perk up. Clearly a slave that wasn’t happy about being sold. The cries were cut off by what sounded like a loud thwack and a groan. It almost sounded familiar. 

“Apologies for that, everyone.” Disco said cheerfully. “One of our lovely items decided that she didn’t like being a special item!”

“Special item...” Penguin murmured. The crowd also began murmuring about what kind of person it was.

“Bring her out now!” A whiny voice demanded. 

“Yeah, we want to see the special item!” Another voice cried out.

“Well, we were planning to auction her off later in the show before our highlight piece of a mermaid, but I’m such a people pleaser,” Disco winked at the audience. “I just can’t say no to you all!”

A brown-haired woman was dragged onto the stage and Shachi and Penguin gasped. 

“KATYA-CHAN!” Bepo cried out. 

The singer looked incredibly worse for wear, a large swelling around her jaw which had clearly been made by someone with a rather strong right hook, Law deduced. His blood began to boil. He may have a complicated history with the woman, but no-one deserved the fate of becoming a slave. 

“What do we do, Captain? We can’t let her become a slave!” Penguin whispered urgently to Law. Law’s brow furrowed as he thought of plans, but nothing was coming to mind that wouldn’t risk his crew. 

“Item number 18 today is this stunning woman, excellent singing voice-“

“Suck my dick, Disco.” Katya snapped at him angrily. Two attendants ran forward and forced a hand over her mouth. Law had to smile slightly at her sheer nerve of talking back. 

“She’s feisty and will provide great entertainment. She’s a popular singer here at Sabaody so you know you’ll get your money’s worth. Furthermore, the reason she is a more special item! She has a Devil Fruit that will...” Disco paused and held a hand up to his ear. “Hm?”

Bepo sniffed. “A Devil Fruit?”

Shachi and Penguin nodded. “She said she’d not had it long.”

“What was it?” Law inquired with curiosity. 

“She didn’t actually say, come to think of it.” Shachi said. 

“Ah, apologies, everyone,” Disco said after a moment. “It seems that our wonderful patron Joker himself has decided to take this lovely item.”

Law’s eyes narrowed. What could Joker possibly want with her? Shachi and Penguin gasped loudly. 

“I’m not for sale! You can tell this Joker asshole that he can’t have me and he can honestly suck-“ Katya had bitten the man’s hand and spoken briefly. The rest was cut off by someone slapping a gag in between the woman’s teeth. The guards dragged her off the stage but despite the fact Katya was cuffed in kairoseki shackles and a shock collar, she was doing a pretty impressive job of kicking and slapping them as she went. 

“We now move on to our next item..”

“What is Kat-chan doing here?” A voice from behind Law muttered. The Heart Pirates spun around and looked in the direction of the voice. 

“No idea,” Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid was hissing to his first mate, Killer. “But no-one runs out on me and avoids payback.”

Killer tutted. “You need to give that up, Kid.”

Law gritted his teeth as the next few items were brought out. Bepo was clearly in distress at Katya being taken away, but they knew there was nothing that could be done for the moment, lest they bring an Admiral down on their heads. The gears in Law’s head were turning. How did she know Kid?

“Thank you for your patience! Just have a look at this!” Disco called out after a few moments, pulling down the sheet covering a large fish tank. “Straight from Fishman Island, Caimie the mermaid!”

~

“Mmm! Mm!” Katya struggled as the guards backstage tried to hold her down.

“Shut up, bitch!” A guard hit her in the gut. 

“Oi!” Another guard pulled the other back. “Do you even know how valuable she is now? If Joker wants her himself, then she has to be in the best conditi-“

CRASH!

A huge boom echoed around the room and bits of rubble fell down all over the place. The two guards holding Katya were knocked to the ground. 

What the? She thought. Was there an earthquake? She got up and stumbled towards the side of the stage. There was an emergency exit not far from the stands. If she could get to it, she could attempt to escape. Her head was fuzzy, but she heard a gunshot. She lifted her head and saw the mermaid, Caimie, banging her fists against a large fish bowl. 

“Are you looking at me?” A whiny voice said. “Youuu’re annoying!”

Then Katya watched as Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon square in the face.


	5. The Dark King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya goes toe to toe with the guards, and Rayleigh enters the auction hall.

The crowd was in pure shock, including Katya herself. He’d punched a Noble? How stupid was Straw Hat? Disco was gasping in horror, as was most of the audience. 

“If I hit these guys, they’ll call an admiral from the Navy and a warship here, right?” The young man with the Straw Hat was with way more cheer than was acceptable for the situation. 

What the hell... Katya thought as she attempted to untie the terribly tied ropes around her knees. There was no chance she’d be able to get the collar or her seastone handcuffs off without expert help, but she’d deal with that in a few moments. Right now, she needed to get out of there. She had just managed to free herself from the rope when the Nobles began firing at the pirates. 

“Hurry up and get out!” Someone screamed. 

People were running frantically all over the place. Katya slunk into a corner as guards began to swarm the stage and watched in awe as Straw Hat Luffy’s leg seemed to stretch four times its length. A Devil Fruit power, and an odd one at that. The other members of his crew were also going crazy fighting the Nobles and guards.

“Katya-chan!” A plethora of voices cried out.

Katya looked up in surprise. Her head was spinning but she could see the outline of a few white boiler suits. Plus a tall red-haired....oh shit. 

“Kid?!” She gaped as the man stomped up to her. 

“Get out of here!” He yelled at her and grabbed her arm, pushing her towards the crowd that were leaving the auction house. 

“Oi, Kid,” One of his crew members said to him urgently. “Trafalgar looks PISSED.”

Katya looked across the room and her eyes finally settled on a very familiar visage. Law had gotten even more handsome. He’d grown a goatee since she’d last seen him, but most of him was the same. Ugly sweatshirt hoodie and his sword resting on his shoulder. The bastard who broke her heart. 

Ignoring her traitorous heart doing a slight somersault, she wrenched her arm away from Kid and started towards the Heart Pirate Captain. 

“Is she just oblivious to what’s going on here?” One of Kid’s crew said indignantly. 

“You....” she glared at Law. “You piece of shit!”

“Uh-oh.” Bepo said. Law’s face was betraying nothing and he appeared passive. 

“You bastard, I ought to beat the shit out of you for what you did!” She ducked past a guard that tried to grab her and ran up the stairs. “I don’t care that you have some dumb bounty, you’ll- ugh!” The guard caught her foot. “GET OFF ME!” She screamed angrily. 

“Oi, Kat-“ Kid said. 

If looks could kill, Eustass Kid would have been a bleeding dying mess on the floor.

“You don’t get to call me that!” Katya cut him off. “You need to accept that it was a drunken mistake! And especially you need to stop being so hung up on the fact I left at dawn!” She shouted at the red-haired man, who growled in response. 

“You should be honoured that you spent the night in my company, bitch!”

“HIM? REALLY?!” Shachi and Penguin shouted. Katya shot them a pointed look. 

“Yes, yes, my taste in men is shit. You two sound like my aunt!”

“I’m sorry!” Bepo bowed his head. 

“She wasn’t even talking to you!”

“I’m out of here.” Katya spat. “If I see either of you two assholes again, you’ll wish you didn’t.” 

“Why you-“ Kid began, but a large flying fish flew through the ceiling and a woman with....wings? and a skeleton with an Afro appeared. 

Chaos ensued and Katya headed back towards the exit, but Disco, the man who ran the auction house, pulled a gun on her as she weakly made her way to the door. Curse that kairoseki. If she had her powers, she’d be able to sneak away mostly unnoticed and without the annoying drain on her energy. 

“Y-you bitch!” Disco growled and raised the gun. 

BANG!

Katya dived out of the way as the shot fired, but she wasn’t fast enough. It hit her shoulder and she fell to the floor with a crash. 

“Ow...” she groaned. 

“Katya-chin!” Caimie called from the fish bowl. Katya’s vision swirled and she fell down next to the fishbowl. Disco raised his gun again and Katya’s head began to slump. This was it. 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. 

A powerful wave of energy shot through the arena. Katya passed out for a few moments but when she came to, she could see the vague outline of a dark figure walk out of a hole in the stage. 

“Have a look at that, Giant-kun!” A familiar deep voice spoke. “The hall is a complete mess.”

Katya raised her head slightly. “Ray-san?!”

“Oh, Katya-chan, long time no see! Seems like the auction is over. What are you doing here?”

Katya scowled and gestured at her neck ring with her non-injured arm. “What do you think? Business deal went wrong. Why are YOU here? Shakky’s been looking for you for months!”

“Ah, I lost a bet at the gambling hall.”

“Pay better attention to your wife, old man!” Katya shouted at him. 

“She’s....she’s talking back to him.” Kid gaped at the scene. 

Rayleigh raised his hand and Katya felt the powerful energy again. Her chains fell to the ground. Her energy came back immediately; even though everything still hurt, she no longer felt her energy being sapped. 

Katya stood up, gingerly clutching her shoulder. “How did you do that?”

“Just a skill I’ve acquired over time.” Rayleigh replied with a shrug. “Well, seeing how I’ve stolen some money, I guess I’ll be returning to the gambling hall.”

“You really need to kick that habit, Ray-san. You have customers that need coatings!” Katya smiled weakly. 

“Eh, they can wait.”

“You foul old man...” the giant grumbled. “You stole money just to go gambling?”

“More like to pay off his debts to his own wife.” Katya snorted. “Worst businessman ever.”

“Cheeky brat.” Rayleigh smirked. “How is Shakky?” 

“Good, though she thinks you’ve taken a lover again.”

“Stop this conversation!” Several guards cried out, pointing guns at them all. 

“Hm, I guess I’ll have to head home at some point.” Rayleigh stroked his beard, ignoring them completely. 

“I’ll join you, I may need to ask Shakky to do some bar work for a while. My sleazy manager fired me for insubordination.”

“Fair enough. Hm?” Rayleigh looked back at the hall, where every pirate and guard were looking at the pair in utter disbelief. “Everyone is staring at you.”

“They’re really not.”

“You slept with some of them, didn’t you?”

“SHUT UP, OLD MAN! Like you can talk!” Katya screeched at him. Rayleigh put a hand on his hip.

“You need to get that shoulder looked at. Leave as soon as you can.”

“The Marines-“ she began. 

“You know what to do.” Rayleigh said firmly. Katya nodded in understanding. Her Devil Fruit. “And Katya-chan, I heard that Joker wanted you. What did you do?”

“Haven’t a clue.” Katya said, and headed down the steps, glancing at the group of pirates as she did so. Law’s eyes followed her. He looked like he was going to pass out from shock. Huh, maybe the giant was intimidating to him, Katya mused. 

“Caimie-san, go to your friends!” She called and headed up the steps, before nearly being knocked over by another wave of energy. 

“Geez, I wish that would stop.” She said. 

“This guy...” Kid muttered. 

“No way...” Law followed suit and Katya’s head turned towards him. She hadn’t heard him speak before then. 

“What’s got you so tongue tied, Law?” She addressed him coldly. 

“You don’t know who he is, do you?” Law replied. 

“Hm? He’s a local mechanic.”

“She really doesn’t know?!” The hall of people cried. Katya ignored them and kept making her way up the stairs behind Rayleigh, blood dripping from her wound. The next few moments were fuzzy, but she eventually made her way to where Hatchan, who appeared to be Rayleigh’s friend was, at which point she collapsed into a heap. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. 

“She’ll need a doctor soon.” Rayleigh said calmly, before turning to Law. “If half of the things she said about you are true, then you’re able to treat her, yes? I have my hands full with my other friend here, and his wounds are more severe. Bring her to Grove 13 when you can. My wife runs a bar there.”

Law sweatdropped but nodded. “Bepo, carry Katya-ya whilst we head back to the ship. Treat her as best as you can until I get there.”

“Ya ya?” Rayleigh snorted slightly. 

“Aye, Captain!”

“B-Bepo....” Katya felt the Mink lift her up into his arms. “Put me down..” she said. Her energy was virtually gone; therefore, she needed to save it to move and use her power. “Si....” her voice wavered. “Si....” 

Katya’s eyes fluttered closed as voices shouted around her.


	6. You Suck At Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heart Pirates, along with an injured Katya, escape the auction house. Katya’s Devil Fruit is revealed to Law.

“Oi.” Rayleigh walked up to Law and handed him a small piece of silver jewellery. A simple necklace with a stethoscope charm. “This is hers. It fell off with the collar. Look after her. Or I’ll know.”

Shachi and Penguin looked like they were about to wet themselves. Law walked away outside and Bepo looked down at the woman in his arms. 

“Here, I can help a bit for now.” The reindeer offered. 

“It talks!” Shachi and Penguin screamed. 

“Why are you so shocked, you have a talking bear...” Several people around them muttered. 

“I’m sorry.” Bepo’s head slumped. 

“So sensitive!” 

The next few moments were pure disarray. Shachi and Penguin helped the reindeer, Chopper, bandage up Katya’s wound and they headed outside. Shachi and Penguin took it in turns holding Katya on their backs as Bepo was fighting off guards and Marines. Law had been dealing with the other pirates and the majority of the strong Marines, so the bear and his two companions only had to deal with a few ensigns. 

Katya stirred as they were running over a bridge that a rather large man had destroyed, that now seemed to be with Law and the others. Law was running just in front of her. She tapped Penguin, who was carrying her, on the shoulder. 

“Put me down.” She protested, though it came out rather half-heartedly. 

“Katya-chan, you’re awake!” Penguin quickly put her on her feet and she clutched her head in pain. 

“Ugh. What’s going on?” 

“Marines! Can you run?”

“Ah.” Katya nodded.

“Captain, look at that!” Shachi suddenly cried out. In front of them was a huge human, wearing a paw print hat. Katya stepped forward and stood parallel to Law as she looked at the imposing man who was in front of the group. 

“Is it me or do this guy and Dr Asshole over here clearly shop at the same store?” Katya commented, pointing at the similar trousers and hat the man was wearing. 

Law growled and focused on what was in front of him. “What’s one of the warlords doing here?”

“Trafalgar Law.” The large man said calmly. 

“So you know my name?” Law pulled out Kikoku just as the man seemed to fire a huge pulse of energy from his mouth. 

“Wha-“ Law gasped but Katya was faster on the uptake. She dived for him and tackled him out of the way. The beam hit the ground behind where they had been. 

“Katya-ya, you threw yourself at me.” Law said under Katya, who was now lying across his body on the ground. Years ago, he would probably have been smug at the idea, but now he looked at her cautiously. 

“Shut up! Don’t get yourself killed before I kill you, you bastard.” Katya clambered off him, shoving him away. 

“You haven’t changed a bit. Apart from that short hair.” Law got to his feet and faced the large man, whom it was clear had had some kind of mechanical enhancements. 

“At least I didn’t grew a small forest on my chin.” Katya fired back. 

“Why does Joker want you?”

“Hell if I know! What’s it to you, anyway?”

“Trafalgar, you’re in my way!” Kid appeared next to the two. Katya looked astonished at the huge metal arm protruding from the pirate. 

“Damn, you held out on me, Kid.” She raised her eyebrows. 

“Shut up!”

“You want me to kill you? Stop ordering me around!” Law growled back at the red haired man. 

“I shall make you let us pass...” Law looked up at the huge man in front of the three and activated his Room. “Bartholomew Kuma!”

~

Katya was in no shape to fight Marines. Her fighting skills weren’t great even if she was fully healthy. She carried a small knife usually, but it wasn’t with her as it had been confiscated by the auction house. That and her shoulder had meant that trying to get away had been near impossible. She’d taken one of the numerous swords attached to Kid and had done her best to swing it to help, but to little avail. She’d hit one man off his feet but that was about it. Penguin was fighting next to her to keep her away from the worst of the Marines and the blasts coming from the imposing Kuma robot. 

Shachi was in front of the two, clearing the way with Law. Bepo was bringing up the rear, electrocuting any Marines who dared get near the group. 

“Can’t you fight at all?!” Law yelled at her as the group continued to move towards what Katya presumed was their ship or some kind of safe haven. 

“I’m a singer, not a soldier! Shouldn’t you have this all in hand, big shot rookie?” 

“What about your Devil Fruit?”

“It’s not that kind of fruit!” She shouted back at Law.

“Hey Trafalgar, is she your ex or something?” Kid grunted as he threw more chunks of metal at the robot. 

“Go to hell!” The two of them snapped at the same time. 

“Oh, yes.” Bepo replied to Kid immediately. 

“Bepo!” Katya protested. 

“I’m sorry.”

“We’re getting out of here, Kat. Why don’t you come with me? I’m sure my crew would love a singer.” Kid said with a smile. “Why have Trafalgar when you could be my woman instead?”

“Okay firstly, I belong to nobody,” Katya threw the sword she was holding at a nearby Marine’s face, which caused the man to scream in pain. “Second of all, you’re coming off really desperate! Solid pass!”

“That was quite harsh.” The tall man, Jean Bart, who had begun running with the group, commented. 

“Eat me.” She spat back. 

“You always did like that.” Law said offhandedly. Katya went bright red and screamed a string of curse words at him as the group reached a quieter clearing away from the violence. 

“Suit yourself, kitten. I’ll see you in the New World, Trafalgar.” Kid grinned in their direction before heading off beyond a hill. 

“Law...” Katya turned to face the rookie pirate with a rather frightening expression. 

“Eep!” Shachi and Penguin cried out together. “She’s going to do it!”

“Do what?” Bepo said. 

“Try and kill him!” Shachi hissed at the bear. 

Katya brought her hand up and put her hand gently on Law’s shoulder. The two engineers recoiled in shock. That hadn’t been what they were expecting. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“Why does Joker want you, anyway?”

“I have no idea, I already told you this!”

“Maybe he’s a fan?” Penguin said. 

“I heard a voice from over there!” A Marine shouted loudly. The men immediately took their fighting stance before Katya quickly pulled them behind a tree.

“Wait.” She said sharply, and focused, before clicking her fingers. “Silent.”

Law gasped as a small film flew from Katya’s hand and engulfed the group. The bubbles stopped making sound. The Marines could not be heard, although they appeared to be shouting as they ran past. It was as if the world’s noise had been blocked out completely outside the area that Katya had created. 

“What did you just do?” Jean Bart whispered. 

“They can’t hear us, you don’t need to whisper.” Katya replied. 

“Your Devil Fruit power!” Shachi ran towards her. “This is what it does?” Katya nodded in reply. 

Law fell to his knees. “Katya....” he began to shake. 

“They won’t hear us as long as it lasts. But I can’t hold it for too long.”

“Katya!” Law said more sharply. 

“WHAT?!” The freckled woman span around, and a sharp shock of pain went through her shoulder. Shit. She’d twisted wrong and the makeshift stitches from it had disappeared. 

“Your Devil Fruit....” the man’s voice almost had a quiver to it. “I know why Joker wants you.”

Bepo looked worriedly at Law. “Captain, her shoulder is bleeding again.”

“Bepo, carry her. We’re getting to the Tang, now.”


	7. Hating Bread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya has a long overdue talk with Law. Bread is served for dinner.

“This hurts!”

“Stop moving, or I’ll be forced to restrain you, Katya-ya.”

“Please drop the -ya, Law, saying yaya with my name makes you sound really weird.”

“Katya-chan!” Bepo burst into the medical room of the submarine carrying a tray full of items. “How is she, Captain?”

“She’ll be fine, she just needs to rest for a few days.”

“Like hell I will. I’m out of here as soon as I can be.”

“You aren’t staying with us, Katya-chan?” Bepo looked so downcast that Katya sighed and went to hug the bear, leaving her shoulder, which was currently detached and being carefully operated on by Law, on the table. Bepo rubbed his cheek against hers affectionately. 

“It’s so good to see you again, Bepo-sama.” 

“Again, what’s with the -sama?!” Shachi and Penguin shouted from the door. 

“Bepo is the navigator, he deserves respect.”

“And I don’t?” Law began stitching her shoulder, the bullet now on a tray next to him. 

“Not after what you did.” She grimaced as Law’s hands carefully pulled the thread through the skin to pull it together gently.

Law sighed as he threaded the needle through her skin again. “Okay, clearly we need to have this discussion before either of us loses the will to deal with the other.”

“Give us a moment, guys?” Katya said to the three by the door, and they nodded and went out, closing the door behind them. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two. 

“When you’ve sorted my arm, I’m leaving. Thank you for treating it, but I have a life to get back to.”

“You won’t have a life anymore.” Law snapped. “Not now that Joker wants you.”

“I can take care of myself.” 

“Listen, it’s not safe for you. If Joker knows you have that Devil Fruit, you won’t be safe here. He will hunt you to the ends of the earth.”

“At least someone will!” She said curtly. “You didn’t.”

Law was silent.

“Law, you were my world. But when you wanted me to give up everything and leave suddenly at sixteen...how could I? You broke my heart when you left, Law, and you told me it was all for some revenge? You didn’t even tell me why! Only that you picked revenge over me. You never even told me who the revenge was on, or why you were so hell-bent on it you gave up me!”

“Because I didn’t have a choice!” He slammed his fist down on the metal table next to her. 

“You always had a choice, Law.”

Law finished tying the last thread in her wound, before setting the needle down. “The person I’m chasing....is Joker. Also known as Doflamingo of the Warlords. He killed the most important person in the world to me, the man who saved my life. The man...who used to have your Devil Fruit.”

Katya’s eyes went wide. “You knew whoever had this Fruit before me?”

Law nodded. “I have to avenge him someday. It’s my one goal, even above finding the One Piece. The only time I ever thought about giving it up....” his eyes turned away from her. “Was you. That last night together, I knew that if I didn’t leave then, I’d never leave. So I made you hate me. I hoped it would be easier for you.”

“Well, it wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry.” He muttered. Katya sighed and flexed her fingers on her decapitated arm. 

“You got better.” She gave him a slight smile. 

“Ah, I‘ve had more practice.”

“Law,” she said quietly. 

“Hm?”

“I accept your apology.” She leaned back on the chair. “However, I’m still mad at you and I still want to deafen you for all the shit you put me through.”

“You can do that? Cora-san never showed that ability.” Law cast his Room and put her arm back where should be. 

“I discovered it by accident...” she gave her shoulder a roll and smiled. “Huh. Not bad for a quack doctor.” She looked down at her right hand, the one she used for her ability. Her face fell. 

“Will powerful people continue to come after me then?” She murmured, twiddling her fingers. 

“Yes.”

Katya closed her eyes and tried not to sob. She’d built up a life for herself here and it had all managed to disappear within a few short days. 

“I’m guessing I’ll need some good friends to look out for me. I don’t suppose you have a singer yet?” 

“No.”

“The way I see it, I won’t be free until that shitbag Joker has been taken down. So, room for one more passenger on this ship for the moment?” 

Law nodded. 

“I don’t want us to be at odds anymore. I can’t forgive you immediately, but I think I can begin to live with it. Truce?” 

Law offered her a rare smile. “Truce.” He took her by the hand. Katya thought he would shake it, but he didn’t. The two stood there holding hands for a few moments, before Law cleared his throat and dropped his arm back to his side. 

“I guess you got your wish in the end.” Katya joked. “I’m going to be a pirate after all.” 

“It would seem so. This is yours, Katya-ya. Rayleigh picked it up.” He handed her the necklace with the stethoscope on it. Katya blushed lightly and extended her hand to take it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Katya.”

“I’m not calling you Captain, though.”

~

“Katya-san, dinner is served!” 

“Coming, Jake-san!” She called. Katya picked up her things. She had been a Heart Pirate for two days and she had just finished getting her things from her apartment. 

Katya had stopped off at Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar to tell her of her plans. Shakky had given her a hug and told her that she was welcome to visit whenever she wished. Rayleigh had made his way back home eventually and she spent time with him for a few hours, much to the shock of Shachi, who had accompanied her to fetch her personal belongings. Not many people could hug the Dark King so casually, but Katya explained that to her, he had always been simply Ray-san, a mechanic who had coated some of the ships she had used to travel for shows. 

She hadn’t played any songs for the Heart Pirates yet. Her shoulder was still recovering, so playing any instruments was out of the question, although the crew had been playing her music from the album that Ikkaku bought. The crew had laughed their heads off at how badly Law came off in some of the songs. 

Law had sat there and taken the criticism very well. He’d had a private word with Katya about them and she’d said she had exaggerated quite a lot in the lyrics in order to please the music producers. 

Katya hummed as she made her way to the mess hall, where the crew were chatting and getting food together. She had met the rest of the crew and gotten to know them over the past two days. Jake the cook, Uni, Clione and the new recruit Jean Bart were all very lovely, if a little intimidating at times. She went to sit by Ikkaku, who was loudly teasing Law. 

“Not even one tiny bit?”

“Ikkaku-ya,” Law was scowling as the woman held up a small bread roll. 

“Wait, you still refuse to eat bread?” Katya snorted. Law went mildly crimson and threw the two women a glare that would send most people running for the hills. Katya took the seat next to Ikkaku and took up her own bread roll to tear it into small pieces to have with the broth that was for dinner. 

“You know, Ikkaku-san, I used to be good at telling what people were like from a single three sentence conversation with them.”

“Really? And please, drop the -san. We’re all crewmates here.”

“Yeah?” Katya smiled. “It’s an acquired skill. When I met Law, I predicted two things.”

“Oi.” Law narrowed his eyes at her. 

“But Captain, that was so funny!” Bepo laughed at he came across to them. He wiggled his fluffy bulk into the bench to sit with the small group. 

“Tell us, Katya-chan!” 

“Shachi, you know this already.”

“I know, but it was incredible.” Him and Penguin joined them and the other Heart Pirates were listening in curiously. 

“I said that he was prejudiced against carbs, and probably into BDSM.” 

The mess hall roared with laughter. Ikkaku had tears in her eyes and several of the other Heart Pirates were banging their hands on the table in hysterical laughs. 

“Ah, but they weren’t completely right.” Law smirked. “I’m only prejudiced against certain carbohydrates. The rest of your prediction was correct.”

Katya went scarlet and muttered something about things that should be kept private. 

“Captain, too much info!” Ikkaku faked gagging. 

“What did you say about these lot?” Ikkaku gestured to the cackling Shachi and Penguin, as well as Bepo, who was chewing on his bread roll. 

“I said that those two were both goofy. And for Bepo I said fluffy and soft hearted. For all of them I said virgins.”

“Katya-chan! You promised you’d never repeat that!” 

“Besides, we’re not anymore!” Penguin immediately elbowed Shachi at that comment. 

“Hey, shut up, you idiot!”

“Ohhhhh, you finally got laid?” Katya grinned. “Now was this with each other out of loneliness, or an inflatable doll?”

Ikkaku lost it again and even Law began to smile. The two men pointed their thumbs downwards and shouted ‘boo’ at her, along with multiple shouts of protest. Shachi jumped at her and Katya dived out of the way sticking her tongue out at them. They began to chase the laughing Katya around the mess hall throwing bread rolls at her. 

“Like you can talk! You slept with KID!” Penguin shouted as she narrowly avoided a roll. Jake was complaining in the background of the chaos about wasted food, but Law was carefully using his Room to catch all the rolls before they hit the floor and back onto a plate in the kitchen. 

“It was ONE TIME!” Katya roared back. “I told you I clearly have shitty taste! No offence, Law.” She waved at him as she ran from the two engineers. 

“Offence taken, Katya-ya.”

“She’s going to fit in well.” Ikkaku smiled over at the captain of their submarine. 

“She always did.”

“Captain?” 

“Hm?”

“If you don’t tap that soon, I might.”

“Too far, Ikkaku-ya.” Law muttered, taking a swig of his coffee. 

“Hey, Katya!” Ikkaku called to the woman. Shachi and Penguin had given up by that point and the three were giggling together. Ikkaku waved her over and the three came back to the table. 

“Can you try to deduce something about me?” Ikkaku rested her hand on her chin. Katya nodded and looked at her face carefully. Ikkaku had brown fluffy hair, hazel eyes and two large yellow earrings hung from her ears. 

“You’re the same age as me, 22.” Katya guessed. “And you’re not straight.”

The woman across from her laughed heartily. “I’m 22. And I am not. How could you tell?”

“You looked at my boobs the first time we met.” Katya grinned, at which point Law, Shachi and Penguin looked at Ikkaku with minor judgement. 

“Dang, I never was subtle.” The woman tutted to herself. “Speaking of not subtle, there are bits of bread in your hair.”

Katya cursed and shook her hair free of crumbs, which tumbled to the floor. 

“Sorry about the mess, Jake!” Penguin said to the cook, who rolled his eyes. 

“It’s okay, Captain returned most of the rolls anyway. Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem, Jake.”

“I’d never guess you’d use your powers to clean.” Katya turned to Law, who was still sipping his coffee.

“I mostly use them for surgery, as you know.” Law shrugged. “Occasionally though, it becomes useful to prevent chaos on the ship. Like cutting up my crew for practice.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“He’s joking, Katya.” Ikkaku snickered. “The only time he uses it on us is during medical procedures.”

“That reminds me, you need to have your physical, Katya-ya.”

“M-My what?”


	8. The Deep Breath Before The Plunge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya completes her physical exam. The impending war looms over everyone’s thoughts.

“Sit on the chair, I’m going to ask you some routine questions.” Law said to Katya as she looked around the medical bay nervously. “Then I’ll do a basic physical.”

“Is this necessary?” 

“Absolutely. I take the safety of my crew seriously. For now, that includes you. I need your full medical profile to ensure that you’re healthy whilst on my ship.” Law clicked a pen and settled down in the chair opposite to her with a clipboard. 

“I know most of this already, but I’m going to go through it fully. Full name?”

“Takimi Katya.” The freckled woman rolled her eyes at how back to basics this was going. 

“Blood type?”

“O negative.”

“Any long term health conditions?”

“Terrible taste in men.” 

“REAL health conditions, Katya-ya.”

“No. I get headaches when I use my Devil Fruit for long periods of time, though.”

“Height?”

“5’8, I think?”

“Weight?”

“.....”

“Katya-ya, I can just put you on the scales.” Law sighed. 

“Fine. I don’t actually know it anyway. Aunt Lila said they were depressing and I’ve not exactly had a ton of reasons to find out otherwise.”

Katya continued to look around the room. Law was scribbling away in his terrible handwriting on the clipboard. There were charts and diagrams on the walls, as well as a large number of medical texts on a shelf. There were several beds, cupboards and equipment. It looked like a hospital emergency department but cranked up to 11. Law certainly hadn’t spared any expense on making sure the submarine was fully equipped. If he’d even bought the submarine. 

“Any chance you could be pregnant?”

“Hell no.”

“Are you sure? Are you on birth control? When was your last intercourse?”

Katya winced. “Do we have to have this conversation?”

“Yes.” Law required bluntly. “If you need regular medication, we need to know. Plus, I don’t want that kind of issue on the ship.”

“I’ve been on birth control since before we met. I have enough for two months before I require a new set of pills. And three months ago. I’ve been focused on my career.”

“Any other health concerns?”

“Other than the fear of dying of embarrassment from this conversation and a mild allergy to peanuts, no.”

“We don’t have nuts on the ship anyway. If you recall, Penguin swells up like a balloon if he comes into contact with most of them, so...”

“I’ve never seen the hospital on Forhargo so shocked.” Katya nodded in recollection with a slight smile. 

“Right, strip down to your underwear.” Law got out of his chair and grabbed a pair of medical gloves. 

“I’m sorry, WHAT?”

~

“What’s going on?” Penguin asked with bemusement at Ikkaku and Shachi laughing themselves silly outside the medical wing. Raised voices came from inside. 

“Katya’s physical.” Ikkaku had tears in her eyes and she was clutching her stomach.

“Oh. Which part?”

“I AM NOT GOING TO DO THAT!” Katya’s voice bellowed from inside. 

“Ah, the pelvic exams.”

~

Katya couldn’t sleep. She was still dying of embarrassment from the physical exams. Even if Law HAD seen it all before as he’d argued, she didn’t feel the need to be poked and prodded all over and have a Pap smear of all things. 

Furthermore, ever since she had been around Law again, she was having strange dreams. Nothing was ever clear when she woke up, but she swore she could see something falling from the sky each time. They were large, black, and fuzzy. She could never figure out what they were. 

Katya slipped out of her bunk in the shared room with Ikkaku. It was warm in the sub, thus she had only slept in a tank top and some shorts. She slipped on some shoes and headed outside to the deck. The bubbles around the archipelago always were beautiful at night. It was a little chilly on her bare legs but it was peaceful. 

“You never did sleep well.” She remarked as she noticed Law sat on the deck, leaning against the side of the railings. He had a folded up newspaper and his sword next to him. 

“I’ve a lot on my mind.” 

Katya sat next to him and leaned back against the railings herself, hugging her knees to her chest. 

“Do you think there’ll be a war?”

Law nodded and Katya chewed on her lip. The bubbles floated in the distance, distorting the view of the stars in the night sky. 

“Did you ever think your life would turn out like this?” She murmured to him after a long pause.

“I thought I would be dead by eleven, so no.” 

“Can you tell me about Cora-san? You said he had my fruit, and that he saved you from dying, but not much about what he was like as a person.”

“He was the best person I’ve ever known.” Law said and put his hat down onto the deck. “He gave me back my life. I had nothing when I met him, and he gave my my spirit back.”

“He sounds like a wonderful man.”

“He was. He also set himself on fire a lot.”

“Eh?”

After there was no reply, it was quiet for a few moments aside from the sound of bubbles. Katya looked across at Law. He had dark circles under his eyes. She shivered slightly, though whether it was from the cold or his presence was unclear. 

“Here.” He shrugged off his hoodie and passed it to her. She pulled it on and snuggled into it. It was warm and it smelled like Law. Katya felt her cheeks flush.

“Law, when was the last time you slept?” She quickly changed the topic.

“About two days ago.”

Katya sighed. “The broadcast from Marineford is tomorrow. You’ll want to be awake for it.” 

“.....”

“Silent.” Katya made a small dome around them and the bubble sounds stopped. “Try to rest. I’ll keep watch.”

Law nodded in defeat, and let his head slump forward. Katya stared up at the sky. There were clouds obscuring the sky. It was like a storm was brewing. She was nervous for the broadcast the next day herself. Like Law, she knew that this would provoke outrage and chaos in the New World. 

Law’s crew would want to head into the New World soon, she mused. Katya was terrified what awaited her there now she was a pirate. The incident at the auction hall had proven to her that she was not strong enough for the New World at all. She’d at least need to learn to use a weapon properly. She couldn’t rely on her fruit to get her out of situations anymore. She was part of a crew now. At least until...or IF Law took down Joker, stopping him from hunting her. 

The young brunette mused on her life before reaching Sabaody. She had gotten by on luck. Ships with an eternal pose to various places that took passengers for a nominal fee. She had mostly paid for her passages in songs and tips from performances. The most daring trip she had taken was to the New World for a two day trip. Some fancy rich family had paid to bring her out there as their daughter was a fan of her songs. The whole thing was a farce, full of fake niceties and snobby rich people, but she had earned well. 

Then, even more crazily, on the day before they left the island, she had gone to a bar and crashed into a red-haired man with a long cape and one arm. She had spilt a large glass of booze all over him and had apologised profusely. The man had waved it off if she agreed to buy him another drink. His crew had begun shouting that she was too young for him, but she bought a round anyway. Several drinks later, she had agreed to sing for them and the crew had been the best audience she’d ever had. They cheered, sang along to some of the more classic songs she’d sung (Binks Sake had been the most popular of those) and tipped her in booze. 

When she had left the bar at the early hours of the morning, she’d made great friends with half of the crew. The red haired man had told her that she was always welcome to visit and gave her contact details in order to send him a copy of her album. Katya had been so plastered at the time that she hadn’t thought twice about the fact that one of the most powerful men in the world had basically given her an eternal free pass to party with his crew. 

I wonder if Shanks-san will be watching the war, she thought with worry. No, he would be for sure. Law had big plans, and that was worrying too. His plans had never included her. Now that she knew why, it was more understandable, but she wasn’t going to just fall for him again just like that. Besides, he’d probably gotten over her a long time ago. 

She put Law’s discarded hat on his lap and tried to keep herself warm for the watch ahead.


	9. Marineford

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heart Pirates head to the Marine HQ and to Luffy’s aid.

Katya could scarcely believe what she had watched. The war had been awful to witness on the screens. Law had been fixated upon them, as had the rest of the crew, when the screens suddenly cut out. 

“Let’s go.” Law muttered and the crew followed suit. Katya hadn’t gotten a boiler suit yet as there was nothing that had fit her, so she stuck close to the crew; her hood was up so her face was obscured from most of the crowd, in case anyone recognised her. 

“Whitebeard sold out his companions?” Law scoffed as they walked back towards the submarine. “Like hell. He’s a legend because he never does anything like that. Time to set sail, Bepo.”

“Aye aye, Captain!” 

“Come with me Jean Bart, Katya.” Law said gravely. The two nodded and followed him closely. 

“We’re setting sail for Marineford.”

“Are you insane?” Katya protested, stalling in her pace. “You want to just, what, sail into the middle of a war zone?”

“Yes.”

Bepo put a fuzzy paw on Katya’s shoulder. “Captain knows what he’s doing. Trust him.”

The brown haired woman looked ahead at the back of Law, who was walking towards the grove where the Polar Tang was with purpose. 

“I hope so, Bepo. I don’t trust him yet, but I trust you. If you think we’ll be okay, then I trust your word.”

Bepo nodded with pride and the two headed towards the ship, and war. 

~

“Katya, I need you to use your ability to surround the submarine when we surface, as much as you can, on my command.”

“Got it!” Katya stood at the entrance with him.

“Captain, we’ve reached a point clear of the ice!” Bepo called. 

“Take us up.” Law said. “Now, Katya!”

“Calm!” She shouted and the submarine broke the surface of the water without a sound.

Law ran out onto the deck with Kikoku over his shoulder, with Jean Bart, Bepo and Katya in hot pursuit. A floating man was carrying what appeared to be a gravely injured young man. 

“Oi! Bring Straw Hat-ya over here!” Law shouted. 

“Who are you kid?” The floating man called back. 

“What a weird nose.” Katya noted, looking at the man. He reminded her of the clowns that had sometimes entertained at festivals back home, though something told her he wasn’t a typical clown. Especially given that he could seemingly fly. 

“What was that about my nose?!” The man screeched at her. 

“Straw Hat-ya and I will probably end up as enemies, but I have nothing against him. It’d be no fun to have him die here. So I’m gonna take him away from this place! Let me take care of him for now! I’m a doctor!” He said with confidence. 

Katya let out a proud smile. Law was, and always had been, first and foremost a doctor. Her smile fell when she saw the true state of the two people that the floating man was carrying. 

“Connor, Harris! Get the medical room prepped for two, quickly!” She called inside. The two men, along with Uni, were the most medically trained on the ship aside from Law. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! What kind of doctor carries a sword around?!” The red nosed man shouted. “Do you make house calls by submarine or something?!”

“Shut up! Unless you’re a doctor, you can’t do anything for them!” Katya shouted angrily at the man. She had many feelings regarding Law, but she had full confidence in his medical abilities. Even if he was missing official qualifications, Law knew exactly what he was doing. With his Devil Fruit as well, he was the best chance the injured Straw Hat had. 

“Don’t waste any more time! Give him to me now!” Law yelled as a huge cannon fired at the floating trio. 

“Captain Law! Warships are approaching off the stern!” Another of the crewmates, Chris, reported and Katya head the sound of cannons. 

“Hurry! Bring both of them over here!” Law’s face was beginning to lose its cool composure. Katya suddenly felt a chill down her spine. 

“Something’s about to happen...” she murmured. It was like she could feel it. A tremor in the air. She couldn’t explain it. It was as if the atmosphere around her had colours and she was picking up on every one. It was overwhelming, but she could feel a red shape moving towards them. 

“Captain! We’re almost in the warship’s range!” Bepo’s voice came from behind them. 

“Do something, Bepo!” Jean Bart responded. 

“Quit acting like you’re the Captain, damn newcomer!”

“Measure your dicks later, you idiots!” Katya scolded them loudly, before she felt the tremor in the air once again.

“Law!” She called in warning and grabbed his arm before a huge shockwave seemed to shake the entire earth. The waves around the submarine went wild. Law nearly fell but thanks to Katya’s arm, he was able to stay upright. 

“W-What?!” Bepo nearly fell over the side of the railing. The entire sea was rising in multiple areas. 

“Ah!” Katya screamed as the submarine was tipped again by a wave that made her lose her balance. She felt her feet leave the ground and her eyes widened in terror as she saw the water below. 

“Hold on!” A hand caught her and Katya slammed into the side of the railing with a loud smack. She looked up and Law had her left hand in his grasp. He pulled her up back past the railing quickly as a beam of light pierced through the air, passing her to Jean Bart. 

“Katya-san, are you alright?” The larger man said with a gruff. 

“I hit my ribs, but I’m okay.”

“It’s Kizaru!” Bepo said, panicked. 

“Hurry up and get them over here!” Law shouted at the floating man. 

“Alright, I’ll leave them with you, whoever you are! Do what you can!” 

“Catch them, Jean Bart!” Bepo said as two bodies flew towards Katya and Jean. Jean Bart caught them both and handed Straw Hat Luffy to Bepo. 

“Let’s dive!” 

“Get them inside, qui-“ Katya’s sentence trailed off as she saw the huge beam of light coming straight for them. 

“Shit!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” A pained voice cried out, and Katya and Law spun around to see a pink haired young marine screaming on the battlefield. The light faded from Kizaru’s hand. 

“That kid has guts.” Katya breathed out as she watched the young man call for them all to stop fighting. 

“Katya-chan, come inside!” Shachi called from the deck, but Katya had suddenly froze. She knew that presence. That feeling. 

Moments later, the world watched in shock as Red Hair Shanks’ blade collided with Admiral Akainu’s fist.

~

“Shanks-san!” Katya gasped.

“Hurry, get everyone inside!” Penguin was calling across the deck but Katya focused solely on the ship that had appeared on the battlefield. She took a step forward and looked up at the flag. It was him. Kizaru’s light began to shine again as she watched. 

“Katya!” Law shouted. The submarine began to sail away from the island and she was still out on deck. If Kizaru hit her...

“Benn-san!” She shouted, as Kizaru’s light disappeared and she saw a familiar man sat pointing a gun at the admiral. 

“Prepare for surgery! They’ve both lost far too much blood! Prepare a blood transfusion!” The voices of the medical team could be heard from indoors. 

“Captain! Katya! This is dangerous!” Bepo called and Katya snapped back to reality. “I know it’s rare to see one of the Yonkou, but hurry and close the doors!”

“Shanks-san...” Katya stepped backwards towards the door. “I can’t believe I’d see him again so soon.”

“Again?” Bepo waved his arms. “How many stupidly powerful people do you know?!” 

“Just the two, I think.” Katya said offhandly as she came back into the submarine. 

“Captain! We’ll be attacked if we don’t dive right away! I’m begging you, close the doors!”

“Okay.” Law said. 

“Wait!” Katya turned around. 

“We can’t wait anymore!” Bepo screamed, shaking Katya by her hoodie. 

“Ow!”

“You forgot this! Here, catch!”

“Something’s flying towards us.” Law stated. Katya grabbed it and the two ran inside, shutting the door behind them. She looked down at the item. It was a well worn straw hat.


	10. Survival Of The Furriest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law operates on Luffy whilst the rest of the crew deal with the heat.

The escape from Marineford had been stressful beyond belief. They were fired at the entire time, and Law was performing surgery as they did so. Katya’s ribs hurt but she insisted on donating blood to help with the transfusions. Being a universal donor had some benefits, and from what Shakky had said, Straw Hat Luffy was someone important to Shanks. She couldn’t sit back and do nothing. 

“They’re both stable for now.” Bepo told Katya, who had eventually collapsed into a chair from exhaustion like the rest of the crew. 

“It’s so hot...” Bepo whined. “It’s too much!”

“Knock it off, Bepo! You’re making us feel sweaty too!” Penguin complained. 

Katya had to agree that the heat of the sub was far too much. She settled down next to Bepo and took off her top. Her bra and shorts would have to do for now.

“K-Katya-chan!” Shachi and Penguin cried, their noses trickling with blood. 

“Knock it off or I’ll use my fruit on you.” Katya muttered, although she was mostly joking. The tiredness from the blood loss combined with the heat of the submarine was making her feel quite awful. Her head was pounding and she would have done nearly anything for painkillers. 

“I hate riding the submarine.” Bepo moaned. “Especially with these scruffy guys.”

“You’re the scruffiest one here!” The two men loudly objected. 

“I guess the only solution is...to make you share my pain!” Bepo grabbed Shachi and Penguin and began to hug them to his chest until the two relented and went to take the sub to the surface. Bepo and Katya rushed outside and sighed happily. 

“Ah, that’s better.” She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the cool air. She was definitely with Bepo on this. The submarine wasn’t the best way to travel. 

“I can finally relax...” Bepo said happily. 

“What the hell?!” Katya noticed a shape on the deck suddenly and Bepo and the young woman screamed “SNAAAAKE!”

“What?” Shachi and Penguin ran out. “Why is there a snake here?!”

“More importantly....” Katya’s eyes went upwards in dread. “Why is there a Navy ship here?”

“We have to tell Captain!” Shachi rushed back inside.

“There’s someone up there! And it’s one of the Shichibukai: Boa Hancock!” Bepo cried in alarm. 

“Don’t worry, I turned all the marines to stone.” The woman on top of the ship remarked without an ounce of regret or worry in her voice. Katya was on her guard immediately as the Warlord jumped down to the deck. 

“How is Luffy’s condition? Is it bad? Will he recover?” The woman said urgently. 

“You’re friends with Luffy?” Katya arched an eyebrow. Luffy certainly had some interesting friends. 

“Yes! I’m his fiancée!”

“Uh, what?” Katya looked gobsmacked. 

“I’m impressed that you figured out where we’d emerge. I thought that the Navy had tracked us down, and all hope was gone...” 

“Geez, Bepo.” Katya turned to the bear in surprise at his melancholy manner. 

“I had Salome keep an eye on you underwater.” Boa Hancock gestured to her snake, which hissed in response. 

“I see.”

“Don’t try to change the subject, you beast!” Hancock said sharply, to which Bepo apologised. 

“Don’t be rude to him.” Katya scowled angrily. 

“Tell me how Luffy is doing, right now!” The woman demanded. The door to the sub opened and Shachi came back with Law. 

“I’ve done all I can.” Law said. He looked even more tired than normal. “Surgically speaking, his condition has been stabilised, but he suffered an unbelievable amount of damage. I can’t guarantee he’ll survive it.” Law wiped his hands with a towel and squared off against the Warlord.

“Are you okay? You look exhausted.” Katya said in concern. 

“I’ll be fine. It’s the two of them that you should be concerned for.”

~

As the talks went on, Katya observed carefully the Warlord, the purple haired drag queen and the injured Jinbei, before deciding to go back inside the submarine. 

Katya found her way to the medical room and took a chair next to Luffy. The young man was strapped up to a ventilator, covered in bandages and a blanket. Katya decided to sit at his bedside for a while. She spoke to him in a gentle voice about her encounter with Shanks. She kept the Straw Hat safe on her lap as they travelled on. 

She saw him twitch once or twice and hoped that his dreams weren’t as strange as hers. She was still seeing the fuzzy black shapes just before she woke up every time. Each time he moved or grimaced in pain, she sang him something soothing and quiet. She didn’t know why she felt protective of him. He was younger than her. Or maybe it was just that he was ill and vulnerable. 

She hummed gently and wiped his brow with a cool washcloth as Law came in. 

“You’re still here?”

“Yeah, just didn’t want him to be alone.” 

“We’re about to reach the island of women.” Law said. “The crew keep insisting that they want to be on the deck when we get there.”

“Those idiots will get themselves killed one day.”

“Probably.”

“How are you doing, Law?” Katya stood up and made her way over to him. 

“I’ll be fine. How is your head?”

“How did you-never mind. I need some painkillers, but other than that I’m okay, I promise.” Katya glanced back over at Luffy. “Will he be alright?”

“It’s hard to say. It’ll be clearer when he wakes up. IF he wakes up.” Law opened a cupboard and pulled out some painkillers, passing them to Katya. 

Katya smiled at him as she took them from him. “He has the best doctor possible looking after him.” The freckled woman sidled up next to him and jokingly sang a lyric from her song, Fever. “There ain’t a surgeon like you in any place in all the world~” she placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned. 

Law cracked a smile. “Doesn’t the next line of that go ‘so now shall I remove my clothes?’”

“Not gonna happen.”

“You already took them off because it was hot in the sub.” 

“That was different and you know it.” Katya rolled her eyes. “So....Whitebeard dead. Portgas, son of the Pirate King of all things, dead. This is going to change everything, isn’t it?”

“It will.” Law nodded. “Get some rest. I’ll make sure the crew don’t get murdered by the women.”

“Those idiots.”


	11. The Concept Of Big Dick Energy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya and Ikkaku share their wisdom with the warriors of Amazon Lily. Law hates feelings.

Two weeks passed and the crew were beginning to get antsy about the fact that they were essentially banned from the isle of women and confined to the gulf nearby. 

Katya had spent the majority of the time getting to know the crew properly. Law, Bepo, Shachi and Penguin she knew already, but the other crew members were all new to her. Ikkaku was a delight to be around and the two women quickly developed a sisterly bond. The other members of the crew were Connor, Harris, Chris, Uni, Clione, Daniel and Jean Bart, and she slowly began to find out more about them. Uni was very quiet and reserved. Connor and Chris were twins and Law had saved them from a bad case of scurvy. The two had been sailing alone at the time and they had come across the Tang deliriously ill. Harris had joined after Law defeated a crew that he had been indebted to. Daniel had been an ex-Marine, who had deserted the life after a disagreement with his superiors and joined the Heart Pirates. Clione had always wanted to see the sea. All such amazing stories. 

The crew had talked about their own experiences over the years. Katya told stories of being thrown out of bars and travelling with sketchy merchants to get to Sabaody. Penguin and Shachi filled her in on the adventures the crew had had over the years. Ikkaku was astonished to hear that it had been originally Katya’s idea for the Heart Pirates to have a submarine. Katya had retorted loudly that she hadn’t expected them to either a) listen to her idea or b) get one that was bright yellow. 

Meanwhile, the Amazon Lily warriors brought them food and supplies, but most of them hated talking to the men. Those that were less afraid began bombarding Katya and Ikkaku with questions about what men were like, much to Shachi and Penguin’s dismay. 

“Most men are absolutely awful at attending to your needs in bed,” The two women would sit against a tree and talk to the warriors casually. “You get a few good ones, but most are selfish. They don’t even go down on you.”

“How awful!”

“Men are the worst!”

“Plus their laundry always smell gross. Do you know what they do to socks?” Ikkaku would comment. 

The Heart Pirates berated the two women for their terrible portrayals of men but they consistently laughed it off and told the warriors lots of exaggerated stories about men they’d met in their lives. 

“The mushroom between their legs, Katya-chan,” one of the warriors was currently asking Katya as she tucked into dinner not far from where Law, Bepo, Connor and Chris were sat. “Luffy-kun said that if it is taken off, they could die!”

“Their dicks?” Katya was quite drunk at this point. The booze had flowed well that evening and she had engaged in a drinking contest with Shachi, which had been abandoned after Law told them he wouldn’t use his powers to cure liver damage. 

“Luffy-kun called them family jewels.”

“Same thing. Yeah, if you rip them off, the bleeding could kill them, but more it’s a pride thing. Men place a lot of value on what’s downstairs.” She leaned forward and nodded very seriously. 

Law smirked slightly at Connor and Chris, who were begging Katya to stop her descriptions.

“It is important to them?”

“Oh, yeah. Most of the problems in the world are caused by men trying to measure them too much.” Katya took another swig of her drink. “But they’re not compleeeeeetely useless.”

“What do they do?” One of the warriors, a younger blonde woman, leaned in curiously. 

“Well, if they know how to use them, it can bring you a lot of pleasure. It’s not always about size, though that helps.” She giggled. 

“KATYA-CHAN!” Connor and Chris screeched loudly. 

“Hm?” She looked over at the group with an innocent expression.

“You’re being so inappropriate!”

“Anyway, there’s this thing known as big dick energy-“

“Totally ignored!” The two men shouted back. 

“Big dick energy? What’s that?” The warriors began theorising amongst themselves as Law walked over. 

“Katya-ya.” 

“Hang on, Law, I’m almost done.” She shot to her feet and swayed slightly. “So, big dick energy is where someone is fearless!” She threw her hands up in the air, holding her beer bottle in one hand. “The loud and boisterous energy emitted by someone who has a huge dick and doesn't have to tell anyone about it. The energy speaks for itself!”

Ikkaku strode over with her own drink and smirked at Law as the Amazonians tried to wrap their heads around the concept. “She’s right. But few possess such a gift. And to find one with big dick energy that actually has a big dick? Even rarer.”

“Yeah, though some have it down. Like this one.” Katya gestured to Law stood next to her with another hiccuped giggle. “Got the confidence AND the goods, if you know what I’m saying.”

“KATYA!” Ikkaku laughed hysterically as Law’s face turned bright red and he dragged the woman away from the group, confiscating the beer bottle as he did so. 

“Aw, Captain, bring her back!” Ikkaku said between laughs.

“Lawwwwww~” Katya whined as he sat her down next to Bepo. “Why did you kidnap my drink? And me?”

“You’ve had enough to drink. And I would kindly ask that you stop talking about my anatomy with others.”

“Pfft, we both know I’m right.”

“Katya-ya.” Law’s face leaned close to hers with a serious expression. 

“Law...” Katya’s eyes trailed to his lips and stared at them. It seemed like a good idea to lean forward and taste them. Just a little peck, to see if they were the same...

“Katya-ya!” Law raised his voice. 

“Hm?”

“You activated your Devil Fruit.” Katya looked around and realised that she could no longer hear the chatter of the crew and the warriors by Ikkaku. She groaned and focused, bringing the sound back to normal. The moment was over. 

~

Katya was going to be the death of him, Law concluded. Over the last few weeks, it was like he’d been smacked in the face repeatedly with all the reasons he’d originally been drawn to her all those years ago. He couldn’t get her off his mind. Now, despite the fact that he had confiscated the rest of her alcohol, she was dancing in the middle of his crew without a care in the world, looking stunning as they all laughed and chatted around the campfire. It was like the firelight danced across her freckles, Law thought, before he immediately grimaced at such a cringey observation.

“Hey, everyone, let’s take a picture!” She quickly dragged in the whole crew and set Law’s camera (previously full of medical images) on a nearby log stump. 

“Everyone say ‘Amazon Lily!’!”

“AMAZON LILY!” The crew cheered. Law had relented a small smile as the crew beamed in their odd looking group hug. Law was in the centre with Bepo and Katya either side. 

“Yay!!” Katya bounced up and down with delight and put the camera down next to Law. 

“Sing for us, Katya-chan!” Daniel, one of the medical team, exclaimed. 

“Oh, yes, please sing for us!” Bepo joined in. Since Katya’s arm had healed well, she had been singing and performing for them most evenings. Even some of the Amazon Lily warriors had watched her with fascination. 

“Aw, I can’t say no to you all!” She giggled, and hiccuped slightly. “Which song?”

“Sing the one about the ship!”

“Pffffthahhahaha” Katya began to laugh even harder. “You know I told Shakky once, I told Shakky once,” she slurred “that only the weirdest pirate ever would make a submarine bright yellow!” 

Law rolled his eyes and sipped his own beer. 

“You remember the bit I taught you?”

“Yeah!” The crew cheered and began singing along with Katya. “WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE, YELLOW SUBMARINE, YELLOW SUBMARINE!”

Shachi and Penguin got back to their feet and started dancing with Katya and Law’s heart began to pound. She was smiling, and he had never seen her happier. It was in that moment that he decided that Katya would have to learn to be able to defend herself. He wouldn’t let her befall the same fate as Corazon or anyone else who had gotten on Joker’s radar in a bad way. Her training would begin tomorrow. 

Although, Law observed the way the woman was stumbling over her own feet as she waved her arms around, it may start after a strong cup of coffee.


	12. Amazon Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heart Pirates wait for Luffy to wake up. Katya considers her future.

Law looked down at Katya before he exited the room. The brunette was fast asleep, her head resting on the end of Straw Hat’s bed. Aside from combat training, she had barely left the young man’s side. Jinbei, the former Warlord and fishman, had spent many hours in there too. The two had talked about their experiences of the world frequently, and when Jinbei had spoken of fishman karate, she expressed a desire to learn it. 

Jinbei had walked her through the basics verbally and corrected her poses and techniques. When she had struggled to master the basics, he had remarked that due to her small size, it would be more beneficial to her to learn how to use an opponent’s weight against them. 

Bepo, Shachi and Penguin had helped significantly and the two men showed her how they could use Bepo’s weight against him in a sparring situation. Katya had been up late the previous night trying to perfect a technique of disarming an opponent with Bepo, and she was now fast asleep well into the morning. Most of the crew were outside the sub on land getting lunch, and Law was planning to join them. He smiled down at the sleeping woman and put one of the blankets in the medical room over her.

The two had been flirting back and forth somewhat over the last week or so and it was beginning to drive him insane. The woman barely even knew what she was doing to him. God, he needed to get laid soon. Then the freckled temptress would be out of his mind. Law headed onto the grass covered area where the men were being served lunch and took a bottle of booze. It was too early to be thinking about potential feelings. 

“Umm...” a voice shyly asked as he took a swig. “Has Luffy woken up yet?” A young blonde Amazonian stood by him, a green snake over her shoulders. Law shook his head. 

“If he wakes up at all, it will be because of his own willpower. It depends on whether or not he’s got the will to live.”

“I see...” the woman looked back at the submarine. “Is Katya-san with him again?”

“Mm.” 

“Margaret, we’re leaving!” A call came from one of the other women shouted. 

“Pardon me. Please keep looking after Luffy as you have, and please may you pass a message on to Katya-san?”

“Oh?”

“Tell her the weapons she asked for are ready. We’ll bring them down later.”

Weapons? Law was about to ask further questions, but the woman had run off. What had Katya asked of them?

“AHHHHHH!!” A huge crash came from inside the submarine and Law looked at Jinbei, both thinking the same thing. They raced towards the ship but a large figure burst through the metal hull and into the air, before crashing down onto the island. 

“WHERE’S ACE?!” The heavily bandaged Luffy screamed. Law spotted Shachi, Penguin, and a frazzled looking Katya make their way onto the deck. 

“Luffy!” The freckled woman cried out. The distressed young man was running around screaming and a large group of Heart Pirates began to chase after him, Katya included. 

“This is dangerous! Calm down Straw Hat!” Shachi panted as the man continued to run away from them. 

“What’ll happen if we just let him be?” Jinbei asked Law, now sat back down on the ground. 

“Well, to put it honestly, like I said when we came to this island, if his wounds reopen, he’ll probably die.” Law replied bluntly as he watched Luffy punch away a group of his crew that had attempted to tackle him. 

“AAAAACE!” The man ran into the forest screaming hysterically. 

“I’m going after him!” Katya shouted. 

“Katya-ya, stay here. That’s an order.” Law said firmly. The woman froze in her tracks. 

“I’ll go to him, Katya-san.” Jinbei said and rose to his feet. He places a hand on the woman’s shoulder, who looked to be on the verge of tears. “If he hurts you in his distress, none of us would forgive ourselves.”

Katya sniffled before nodding. Jinbei let go of her and went into the woods after Luffy. The young woman let out a small sob. The pain that the pirate was going through, losing his brother in such a horrific way. It reminded her of losing her parents and the inescapable loss that she felt every day. 

Law’s eyes widened. Shit, she was going to cry. 

“K-Katya-chan, don’t cry!” Shachi and Penguin waved their arms frantically. “Look!” The two began tickling Bepo, who let out cries of laughter and indignation. Katya felt a tear slip from her eye either way and soon she was sobbing openly. 

“Oi.” A hand grabbed her and pulled Katya’s face into their chest. Law’s embrace was warm and strong. Katya wrapped her arms around him and cried gently. 

“Calm down, Katya.” Law murmured to her softly. “No-one likes to see you cry.” He released her gently and pulled a tissue from his pocket, handing it to her. She used it to wipe her face, before sitting down on the ground. Law joined her and put an arm around her.

Katya leaned into his touch and rested her head on his shoulder. 

“Lucky bastard...” Several of the men muttered. Law shot them a look and they immediately ran to the ship to repair the damage. 

~

“We need a girls day out,” Ikkaku sighed as she watched the men talk together. 

“You know, I heard that if men enter the island of women, they turn to stone and never come back, but it might be worth risking our lives for.” Penguin mused, starting at the woods beyond the canvas that the Kuja Pirates had put up to separate the men from the rest of the island. 

“According to Aphelandra-chan, at the port we only saw a small proportion of the women living on this island!” Shachi said dreamily. “The kingdom of women I’ve always dreamed about. I’d like to take one quick look at it.”

“You’re gonna die. You sure are dumb.” Penguin replied, but with the same goofy expression on his face. 

“Oh, yeah, they really would.” Katya and Ikkaku sat by Law. “Don’t you remember what happened with the barrage of arrows? If that Warlord hadn’t called them off, you’d all be skewered!”

“I wonder if there are any female bears...” Bepo brought his hands up to his heart. 

“It’s the island of women!” The two responded and Bepo apologised immediately. “Human girls only! Human!”

Katya picked up the Straw Hat from where it was on the grass and looked at it with concern. “I’m going for a walk. I won’t go far. I just need to clear my head.” She got up and walked past the barrier and into the woods. She paced around the edge of the island and sat by one of the cliffs. 

“Who dares- oh, Katya-san!” One of the Amazons, Ran, carrying a pink snake on her arm and a bow and arrow on her back, came over to her. “I was just on my way to bring you the weapons you requested.”

“Katya-san!” Margaret joined her and ran over, waving. 

“Thank you...” Katya said half-heartedly, before looking back at the horizon. “Ran-san, Margaret-san,” she asked quietly. “How long do you think it would take me to master?”

“With those men?” Ran scoffed. “Years.”

“They’re special knives, Katya-san,” Margaret said. “We forge them ourselves here on the island.”

“I can’t be as weak as I am entering the New World.” Katya’s fists curled into the dirt next to her. “I can’t rely on my powers anymore. I need to learn, and learn fast.”

Ran crossed her arms. “Hm. I have an idea, but I don’t think you will like it.” 

Katya’s gaze moved from the horizon up to Ran, and she got to her feet. “I’ll take any suggestions at this point.”

“I could teach you how to use those blades within a year.”

Katya’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“It would be intense training. I would have to gain the permission of the Snake Princess, but it’s possible to master this in just under a year. Furthermore, you mentioned before that you could sometimes sense things. Have you heard of Haki?”

“No. What is it?”

“It is an energy. You have Observation Haki. Untrained, but it’s there. We can explain it to you more thoroughly, but know that it will also help to keep you safe in a fight.”

Katya’s brow furrowed. It was a tempting offer. She would be safe from the Warlord Doflamingo here whilst she trained, plus she’d have the ability to defend herself in the New World. But leaving Law and the crew...

She chewed her lip. “I will think about it.”

The walk back to the ship weighed heavily on her. One year.

One year....could it be enough?


	13. Decisions and Underwear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya decides where she will train. Her and Law have a moment of tension.

Katya sat quietly by the cliff with the crew. She had come back and sat down with Shachi and Penguin, who were fishing off the edge. 

“I don’t hear Straw Hat shouting anymore.” Shachi commented as the crew sat together. 

“I hope he’ll be okay.” Katya said, her voice barely above a murmur. “I can’t imagine the pain he’s going through.”

“Katya-chan, you still look so sad! Look!” Shachi held up the fish he had just reeled in. “It’s not the PLAICE to be sad!”

Katya shook her head and laughed lightly at the truly awful pun. 

“That’s a tuna!” Jake called from a few feet away, which widened her smile. 

The prospect of a year’s training seemed daunting, and the incident with Straw Hat escaping reminded her that her being reckless would have consequences. Katya moved to tuck her hair behind her ear as the breeze picked up. Wait. The Calm Belt didn’t have breezes. 

“What is it?” Penguin gasped as he looked through the binoculars. “It’s huge!”

“Hm?” The rest of the crew looked out to sea to witness a large sea king leaping out of the water, before suddenly resurfacing covered in blood.

“It’s dead! Something killed it!” Penguin screamed in terror. “A thing that huge!”

Below the cliff, a hand burst out from the water and Law’s eyes widened as Silvers Rayleigh exited the water and began to walk up the cliff. 

“Phew, I’m beat.” He whistled as the Heart Pirates gaped at him in shock. He was dripping wet and carrying his coat under him arm. 

“The Dark King Rayleigh?!” Bepo nearly fell over in shock. 

“Oh, it’s you!” The man addressed Law. “We met back on the Sabaody Archipelago, didn’t we?” He smiled warmly, before his expression became quite intense. “Is my Katya-chan doing well?”

The crew screamed and grabbed each other in fear. Katya shot to her feet and ran over. “Ray-san!” She beamed at him and hugged the soaked through man. Rayleigh laughed and returned the hug. 

“Ah, Katya-chan! How are you doing?”

“I’m good, Ray-san, although the past few weeks have made me realise I suck at being a pirate. I am not a good fighter at all.”

“I see.”

“I’m going to learn, though!” She clenched her fist and smiled in determination. “I’m not going to just be a singer, I’m going to hold my weight when we travel!”

“We? Oh, are you joining this crew?” Rayleigh looked across at Law in interest. 

“I think so.” Katya smiled at Law. 

Rayleigh looked between them with a knowing look that made Law nervous. “That’s good to hear, young one.” Rayleigh ruffled her hair and she pouted, her freckles looking odd as her nose scrunched up. 

“Um...” The rest of the crew began shuffling their feet nervously. “How did you get here?” Daniel spoke for them.

“Oh! My ship sank in a storm. I had no choice but to swim here.” Rayleigh said casually. 

“A storm?! The Calm Belt never even has a light breeze....” Penguin thought aloud. 

“That means you were shipwrecked on a distant sea, and swam all the way from there?!” Shachi finished as Rayleigh wrung out the water in his clothes. 

“Well, I’m good at breaststroke.”

“That’s whack!” Katya said to him bluntly. “And it raises even more questions!”

“Alright, so,” Rayleigh waved out his shirt after wringing it free of water. “I assume Luffy-kun is on this island.”

Katya watched as Law’s grip tightened on the Straw Hat. Katya held out her hand and Law nodded before silently passing the hat to her. 

“I think it’s time for us to depart.” Law said calmly, and faced Rayleigh head on. “Tell Straw Hat-ya he should take it easy for at least the next two weeks.”

“I shall.”

“Get ready to set sail!” Law called out and the crew quickly went to work. Katya stayed by his side for a moment, before putting a hand on his arm.

“Law, about going to the New World...we need to talk.”

~

“Katya-chan! What do you mean you’re not coming?!” Shachi and Penguin wailed and clung to her, sobbing. 

“It’s not forever, guys. About a year, then I’ll sail back to join you. I have Bepo’s Vivre Card so I can find you again.”

“But why?” Ikkaku stood next to them with arms folded. 

“I’m not strong enough for the New World. I’m not even strong enough for Paradise.” She sighed. “If we’re going into the unknown, and Joker wants my head, then I have to be stronger. Staying here is as safe a place as I can get for now, and Ran-san and the other Amazon Lily warriors have offered to teach me.”

“But Katya-“ 

“Please, Ikkaku. If I can’t defend myself, I will be useless to the crew.” Katya said miserably. “I’m going to learn how to fight, and how to use my fruit to my advantage in one.”

Ikkaku nodded her head with understanding. “Promise you’ll come back, though? It’ll suck being the only girl again.”

“Of course.” Katya hugged her tightly. “You’ll see me before you know it.”

“What did Captain have to say?” Ikkaku’s voice lowered in volume. 

“He said to do what I had to.”

“He got mad, didn’t he?”

“A little bit. He doesn’t think I’ll be safe here, but no-one finds this place unless the tribe allow it, really. Besides, I’m the one leaving this time. We’ll truly be even.” 

Ikkaku glanced over Katya’s shoulder. Law was sat underneath a tree, his hat covering his eyes. “I guess this is goodbye for now, then.” The two women hugged each other warmly. 

“It’s an ‘I’ll see you soon’,” Katya clarified, before squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath. 

“Bye for now, everyone! Thank you all for taking care of me!” She said, trying to keep her lip from wobbling. 

“Katyaaaa!”

“We’ll miss you!”

The crew surrounded her and enveloped her in a hug. The only two that didn’t were Law, who was still sitting by the tree, and Jean Bart, who was significantly larger than the others and would probably have crushed them. The giant man offered a smile to her as the group said goodbye.

But then it was time to bid farewell to Law. She waved to the others as they disappeared inside the submarine. 

“Are you sure about this?” Law asked gruffly as she approached him. 

“I’m sure. I can’t promise not to join the Kuja pirates whilst I’m here, though.”

“You’d better not.” He snapped. Katya sighed and took one of his tattooed hands in hers. 

“Always the wrong time and place, huh, Law?”

“It would seem so.”

“You’d better not get a new singer whilst I’m gone.” She chuckled. 

“Oh?” Law smirked slightly.

“Yep, no new singers. I’ve already staked a claim here. On two things, really.”

She thought back to her conversation with Law on Sabaody Archipelago about the man that had had her Devil Fruit before her. She had inherited that will, and she wanted to make sure that she could use her powers to accomplish what he couldn’t. “Besides...I want to help you take down Joker. For your Cora-san.”

Law nodded and she pulled him in for a hug. 

“Katya-ya,” he whispered gently. “What else did you stake a claim on?”

“Ikkaku. She’s going to be my new best friend.”

“She’ll miss having you on the sub.”

“We’ll all be fine. Go and stake your claim on the new world. Leave some of it for me, though.” 

“I’d rather stake my claim somewhere else right now.”

“What do you m- MM!”

Law’s lips crashed into hers. Just for a moment, just quickly. Katya hesitated for a moment before pulling him into a quick but passionate kiss. He tasted like peppermint and fine liquor, and it was intoxicating. His hat fell from his head as she wound her fingers into his hair. Law wrapped his arms tighter around her as the two slumped to the bottom of the tree, kissing each other breathlessly, like it was the last time they’d ever see one another. 

“I guess that answers that question.” He smirked at her. 

“Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t go getting yourself killed.” She muttered, getting to her feet and stepping away from him awkwardly. 

Law grinned mischievously as he stood up. “I have no intentions of dying yet.”

“Oi, Captain!” Ikkaku called from inside the submarine. “We’re all ready to sail!”

He growled in annoyance and pulled her back towards him. “The moment you come back though, I’m going to punish you for leaving.”

“Knew you were into BDSM.” Katya retorted. 

“Katya-ya. You’ll be punished for leaving me like this.” He guided her hand down slightly further than where it was and she blushed fiercely at what she could feel. 

Law leaned down once more and whispered close to her ear. “In fact, I might punish you slightly now.”

“Huh?” Katya tilted her head as he pulled away from her and began to walk down to the submarine. Law jumped onto the deck and smirked deviously. 

“ROOM.” The blue film enveloped both him and Katya. Her eyes widened. He wasn’t going to take a leg or something with him was he?! 

“Shambles.” Katya screamed as soon as she knew exactly what the man had done. Her gaze dropped down and her hands fumbled to check. Surely, he wouldn’t have dared....

“Law, you filthy bastard!” She yelled at him as the Surgeon of Death held up her red lace underwear on his forefinger with the biggest shit-eating grin she had ever seen someone pull. 

“I’ll see you soon, Katya-ya.”

“YOU PERVERT! YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!!”

~

Katya waved the crew off despite her embarrassment and anger. Rayleigh had disappeared to hang his clothes out thankfully for the whole goodbye, and he came back a few minutes after the yellow submarine had faded into the distance. 

“Oh, Katya-chan, did they leave you behind?” 

“No, I chose to stay.”

“Why are you so red in the face?”

“NO REASON!”

She was about to argue with the man, and then get a fresh pair of underwear from her suitcase and find somewhere in the woods to put them on - Law, that bastard - when she heard the sound of shoes approaching. 

“Oh, Jinbei-san!” She waved. “And Luffy-san!” Katya breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“Hm? Katya-chan? Where’s the others, and the submarine?”

“Gone.” She replied, holding up her suitcase. “I’m going to ask the Kuja Pirates to train me!”

“Oh, Luffy-kun!” Rayleigh waved. 

“Old Man Rayleigh!” Luffy said with surprise. 

“I’m glad I was able to find you so easily.”

The two exchanged talk about Luffy wanting to return to the archipelago and about his crew. Jinbei just looked stunned at how casually Katya and the older man interacted. 

“Are you really the Dark King Rayleigh?” Jinbei asked eventually. Rayleigh nodded gently. 

“Yeah, but he’s just Ray-san, really.” Katya shrugged. 

“Katya-san, you sure know some interesting people. First Red-Hair Shanks and now the Dark King...”

“Oi! You know Shanks, lady?” Luffy jumped off Jinbei’s back and grinned at Katya. 

“I do. And he wanted you to have this. It was given to us from some flying clown man. Shanks-san picked it up just before we left Marineford.” Katya handed Luffy his Straw Hat. 

“Thanks.” Luffy put the hat on his head happily. “I just don’t feel right unless I’m wearing it!” He laughed slightly, before turning to Katya. “So how do you know Shanks and Old Man Rayleigh?”

“I’m a frequent guest at Shakky’s Bar, so I got to know him as a mechanic. I had no idea he was so famous until not long ago. Shanks-san on the other hand, I met him when I was performing at a bar. His crew were the best audience I’ve ever met. I hope to see them again eventually after I return to my crew.”

“Oh? Who’s your Captain?”

“Trafalgar Law of the North Blue. He treated both of our wounds.” Jinbei clarified to Luffy. “But Katya-san has been looking after both of us too over the last few weeks. She spent a lot of time at your bedside.”

“It was the least I could do.” She waved her hand. 

“Thank you.” Luffy grinned brightly. “And thanks for looking after my hat!”

“Luffy~” A happy voice came and the Snake Princess came running over to them with two of the other Kuja Pirates and a large assortment of fruit and other food. After witnessing the woman’s odd behaviour around Luffy, she walked across towards the Warlord and smiled fiercely, determined not to back down. 

“Snake Princess-san. My name is Takimi Katya. I have something to request of you.”


	14. Observation and Daggers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya trains with the Kuja Pirates. Word comes from the outside world of Law.

It had taken extensive bartering at first, but the moment Jinbei said that she had donated blood to Luffy and him after Marineford, Hancock had fallen apart at Luffy’s surprised loud ‘thanks’ to Katya and proclaimed that he was indebted to her and Law. Katya spoke to the young pirate about Shanks and the two exchanged stories over food well into the evening.

The two had become fast friends for the few days that Luffy had been recovering and he asked Hancock if she could grant Katya’s request to train on the island too. Hancock had instantly said yes to make Luffy happy and Katya wouldn’t let her take it back even after Elder Nyon objected slightly as she wasn’t from the island. 

Katya had moved to the same accommodation as Ran, Sweet Pea and Margaret. The three had gotten along very well from the beginning. Ran had begun showing Katya how to fight with the weapons that Katya had chosen; a small set of throwing knives. 

The idea had come to her when she had thrown the swords at the Marines on Sabaody. With her Devil Fruit, she could use her ‘Calm’ ability to mask the sound of the knives whistling through the air. It would give her an advantage in combat that actually used her powers. 

She worked with several of the Kuja Tribe on strengthening the endurance of her Calm Calm Fruit abilities. By four months in to her stay, she was able to dome a larger area to make it soundproof and could hold it for much longer. She refused to practice her ‘Deafen’ ability on the other pirates; if it went wrong, it could seriously damage someone’s ears. She wouldn’t do that to anyone except an enemy. 

The women of the island, after learning of her singing ability, were all big fans of Katya’s music now. She had sung them every song in her repertoire and even begun to write some new ones.

But through it all, she missed the Heart Pirates. Katya kept Bepo’s Vivre Card close to her at all times. She liked the women she had met, but she didn’t trust that no-one would try to destroy the vivre card knowing it led to a male, even if it was a male bear. She also never took off her stethoscope necklace, even in the baths or at night.

Don’t forget about me, Law, Ikkaku, Shachi, Penguin, Bepo. She held the necklace tight as she slept. I’ll see you soon. 

~

“The saga of ‘Try to sense when I will strike’.” Sweet Pea and Katya faced each other with large wooden sticks. The two women had been talking the previous night and Sweet Pea had spoken of Haki. Katya had asked more about it, remembering her conversation with Ran, and Sweet Pea told her about the three types. It seemed nearly all of the Kuja could use some form of Haki. Ran had good armament Haki and had tried to incorporate it into their knife and combat training that morning. She’d had little luck. Now, Sweet Pea was teaching her how to tap into her observation Haki. Margaret had deduced from some of their earliest talks on the island that Katya had some form of unskilled observation Haki as the freckled woman had spoken of how she had felt that something was coming towards her on several occasions, including at Marineford. 

“Remember, Katya, observation Haki is about feeling when your opponent is about to strike, as well as feeling their will from far away.”

Katya nodded and raised her stick, careful to not get it tangled in her cape. Her own clothing had not lasted long in training, so Margaret had sewed her some more outfits, much more typical of Amazon Lily. Katya liked them. They were totally impractical for sword fighting due to the exposed skin, but they allowed for fast movement. Plus, it was a chance to show off her curves, as well as the slightly more defined muscles she was developing. 

“Ow!” Katya winced as the stick collided with her shoulder. She hadn’t sensed it. 

“Again.” Ran said, and this time Katya felt the swing coming. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge and ended up with a strike to her ribs, but she had felt it this time. She grinned from the floor. Six months to go. 

~

“I cannot teach you anything more.” Ran smiled proudly as Katya stood over Margaret in triumph in the Kuja arena. The Heart Pirate had just beaten the young woman in a match using lots of what she had learned. Her observation Haki was getting better every day, and Katya was utilising it well in battle. Her armament had still not appeared, but Katya was confident that her skills in the throwing knives was good enough, combined with her Devil Fruit, to hold her own in a battle. 

She hadn’t seen the Heart Pirates in the best part of eleven months. Her hair had grown longer and now reached her mid back. Her skin had tanned well from the beautiful weather the island had and, despite a few new scars from training, she was feeling the best she had ever felt. 

Katya helped Margaret to her feet and the two smiled at each other warmly. They may have been opponents, but they were also now great friends. 

“Ran-sama, I can’t thank you enough.” Katya bowed deeply before embracing the woman. 

“It has been my pleasure.” The black haired Kuja Pirate responded. The stadium cheered as Margaret and Katya had left the arena, giving each other a hi-five as they did. Katya looked around at the island and felt sad that she would be leaving it soon. It had become home to her, and she would miss the friends she had made there. But she had given her word. One year or the mastery of the knife combat: whichever came first. 

“Katya-san,” a voice said bravely from behind her. Katya’s cheery laughs faded as she spun around to face Elder Nyon. “There is news of your Captain.”

Katya’s face lost all of its colour immediately. “Is he okay?”

“Don’t panic, he’s nyot dead.” The old woman said, and handed her a newspaper. Katya unfolded it and stared at the front page. Her hands began to grip the paper tightly. 

“The saga of ‘what does it say’?” Sweet Pea said next to her as Katya grit her teeth. 

“Trafalgar Law of the North Blue, bounty of 440 million Beri, had become a Warlord!” Margaret read over Katya’s shoulder. 

“I figured you would want to nyknow the nyews.” Elder Nyon said. Katya took a deep breath and shoved the paper to the ground.

“When is the next boat off the island?” 

~

“Goodbye, Katya!”

“The saga of ‘we’ll miss you!’”

“Be safe, Kat-chan!”

Katya’s friends waved happily at the young woman as she stood aboard the Kuja Pirates ship. Ran was the only one of her close friends that would be on the ship with her as they sailed from the island. 

“Are you nervous, Katya?” The black haired woman asked as the two women stood side by side on deck. 

“Yes.” She admitted. 

“You have been one of my best students in a long time, Katya.” Ran put her hand on Katya’s shoulder as the woman looked at the moving paper in her palm. Bepo’s Vivre Card was moving in the direction of the Red Line. “I have faith that you will be a strong warrior.”

“Takimi.” A commanding voice called to the two women. Boa Hancock strode over, with her snake Salome slithering beside her. 

“Hancock.”

“Don’t you address me in that casual manner!”

“What do you want?” Katya’s distaste for the Snake Princess had become more apparent in the year she had stayed on the island. Hancock saw her as the lackey of men, and Katya saw her as an arrogant leader who only cared about herself.

“We will sail as far as the archipelago, then you are on your own.”

“I’m grateful for the lift there.” Katya said with a rather forced smile. 

“If we didn’t need to visit the place anyway, we’d have just thrown you into the sea.” Hancock said bluntly. 

“You b-“ Katya began saying, but she was pulled backwards by Ran and lost her footing. Hancock sniffed and walked away with Salome. 

“Throw her into the sea.” Katya muttered grumpily and sat down on one of the chairs that dotted the decking area. She put her bag next to her. She’d minimised her belongings to mostly clothing, a log pose and her knives, plus a few small trinkets from her travels and Amazon Lily. Law’s wanted poster was in the bag, too. She had pilfered it out of the paper.

“How are you feeling anyway, Katya?” Ran joined her. “You seemed to be excited to see your friends until you saw that news last week.”

“I told Law not to do anything stupid. This qualifies as stupid.”

“I’m sure the reason will be clear when you meet them again. And you can stretch them. I’m jealous you can do that.”

“I thought I already told you that not all men can stretch like Luffy!” 

Ran blinked owlishly. Katya furrowed her brows at the expression. “Or maybe that was Margaret I said that to.”


	15. Return To Sabaody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya reaches the end of Paradise. A strange encounter occurs.

“It’s great to see you, Katya,” Shakky and the freckled young woman sat together in the former’s bar. Katya had arrived on the archipelago earlier in the day and wished the Kuja Pirates well. Hancock had look more annoyed with her presence until she had asked her to give her love to Luffy, at which point the woman had blushed and descended into a world of fantasies. Saying goodbye to the other warriors had been tough, but promises to write had been made and Katya was confident she would see them all again. 

“Ray-san still not back?” Katya sipped her drink. No-one made drinks quite like Shakky, she mused contently. 

“No, he’s training Luffy-kun still.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how he turns out after all this.”

“How are you planning to get to the New World, Katya?” Shakky took a drag of her cigarette. 

Katya sighed. “I was hoping you could help with that. I need transport. Something discreet but with a strong crew. I don’t want to end up drowning halfway to Fishman Island.”

“I don’t know about discreet, but I know of a crew. I think you’ll find them quite amenable.” Shakky made her way to the back of the bar and brought back with her a large Den-Den Mushi. Katya whistled. The very long range kind were expensive indeed. Shakky dialled a number and waited for it to ring. 

“Who is this?” A gruff voice answered. 

“Ah, Benn-san,” Shakky smiled. “It’s Shakky here.”

“Bennnnn, stop hogging the phone!” A crash could be heard through the connection. Katya was merely gaping at the snail. 

“Shakky, you can’t be serious!” Calling on Red Hair Shanks as transportation to the New World?! 

“Oooh, is that Katya-chan?” The phone morphed into an excited expression with three stripes over one eye. 

“It is.” Shakky beamed. “Do you want to talk to her?”

“Katya-chan!” 

“Oh, is it Katya?”

“HEYYY!” A multitude of voices came down the line. 

“Hi...” she said nervously. 

“When are you going to perform for us again?”

“Yeah, Boss has been moaning that you’ve not released anything new!”

“Shut up, Yasopp!” Shanks shouted, then changed his voice to its usual cheery tone. “What can I do for you, ladies?”

“Are you still on vacation in East Blue?” Shakky took a puff of her cigarette. 

“Aye,” Shanks replied. “Wait, how did you know that?”

“I have my ways.” Shakky smirked. “You need to be more careful, Shanks-san, or people will begin to notice you visit a certain bar a lot on Dawn Island.” The Den-Den Mushi went scarlet.

“Do you mean Makino-san?” Katya looked puzzled. “The Party Bar barkeep?”

“How do you know that?!”

“Luffy talked about you when I saw him.” Katya shrugged. Luffy had told her of his youth and how he met Shanks hanging out in the bar where Makino worked. The young pirate clearly saw her as a mother-like figure. Thought it seemed perhaps the infamous Yonkou saw her differently. 

“You’ve seen Luffy?” Shanks’ voice lost its happiness a little. “How is he?”

“It’s been nearly a year since I saw him. Just after Marineford....” she hesitated slightly. “My Captain, he saved Luffy’s life. He’s a doctor.”

“Your CAPTAIN?!” Shanks wailed. “Katya-chaaan, if you were going to become a pirate, why didn’t you join us?”

“It was a very spur of the moment decision.” She said sheepishly. “Sorry, Shanks-san.”

“You are returning to the New World soon, yes?” Shakky interrupted. 

“Well, it’s going to be about two months’ time.”

“Could you take Katya with you? She needs passage through the Red Line, and you could listen to her new songs.”

“Where’s her Captain?”

“Being an idiot in the New World. Became a bloody Warlord. I’ve been training solo.” Katya muttered into her drink. 

“Trafalgar Law?”

“That’s him.”

“Hm, well, if you promise to sing for us on the way...OF COURSE!”

“Thank you, Shanks-san.” Katya said gratefully. “I’ll even sing you my new songs!”

“Really?! Oi, everyone, Katya-chan’s going to join us!” Sharks shouted away from the receiver and a loud cheer went up. 

“Not forever!” Katya waved her hands at the receiver. 

“We’ll call when we’ll arrive at Sabaody. We’ll see you soon, Katya-chan!” The crew cheered again and Shakky put down the receiver. 

KA-LICK. 

The snail went back to sleeping as Katya seemed to realise what she had just done and buried her hands in her hair. “Did I just agree to travel to the New World with a Yonkou?”

Shakky laughed lightly at the brunette’s frazzled expression. Katya glanced at the bench by one of the tables. “I think I need to lie down for a moment.”

~

“What do you plan to do with the two months you have spare?” Shakky asked after a spirited catch up session. “I presume you’re not planning to announce your presence loudly to the world.”

Katya shook her head. “It’s too risky. I have some money saved, and I’ll keep my head down.”

“Before you left to join Trafalgar’s crew, you asked me for some bar work. My offer still stands.” 

“Really?” Katya said in delight. “That would be brilliant. Thank you.”

“Ma’am!” A man burst through the door. “They’ve attempted it again!”

Shakky took a drag of her cigarette. “I’ll be there in a moment. Katya, how are you with wounds or mechanics?”

“I can change a plug?”

Shakky smirked. “Come along anyway, I think you should see this.”

Katya followed her out of the bar and the two began walking towards Grove 17. As they cleared a hill, she could see the outline of a large ship with the head of a lion on it. 

“Is this...?” 

“Yes.” Shakky smiled at her. “Luffy-kun’s ship.”

Next to the ship, however, were a large number of groaning men on the floor, in various states of bleeding and disarray. Sat by the ship was the huge and imposing figure of Bartholomew Kuma. Katya instinctively reached for her new knives, but Shakky stilled her hand. 

“He has been protecting the ship.” 

Katya’s eyes widened as she looked at the state of Kuma. He had a sword sticking out of his back and his clothing was tattered. His gaze was directed straightforward, unseeing and eerily empty. A large mark on his shoulder read PX-0. Just under it a piece of skin had been cut exposing wiring. 

“What happened to him?” Katya whispered in shock. 

“He gave up his mind.” Shakky replied sadly. “He made a deal though that his last order would be to protect the ship from anyone who would mean to take it until the Straw Hats return.”

A group of other men whom Katya recognised as some of the local Flying Fish riders were dragging off the injured men. Katya walked closer to Kuma carefully. 

“Do not get too close, Kat. His mind is not his own anymore. He will treat you as a threat to the ship. He won’t even let anyone near enough to clean his wounds.” 

Katya stared up at the giant man. Even sat down, he towered over the woman. 

“Has he ever allowed anyone to help?”

Shakky looked mildly surprised. “No one has tried asking directly. Duval and the other riders protect the ship and he has never deliberately hurt them.”

Katya stood in front of him. “Kuma-san, or...ah, PX-0. I’m a friend of the Straw Hats. I won’t be able to stay here for long, but I would like to help with your task if you would let me. For a few hours a day, I will help keep the ship safe from the hunters. Hopefully it will take some pressure off you and the Flying Fish Riders.”

The man continued to stare straight forward silently. Katya experimented in sitting down facing him for a few moments, and when he didn’t move, she turned around facing the direction the bandits had come in, as if joining him on watch. 

“I think I know of several ways to fill this two months, Shakky.”


	16. The Red-Hair Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya receives some surprising news. The journey to the New World begins.

“There’s a call I need to make before I leave, Shakky, if I may use your long-range Den Den Mushi?” 

“Yes, here.” Shakky said as she dropped a customer that had failed to pay to the floor. Katya had camped out of the bar for the last two months and she watched passively as the man spat out blood. Katya had spent most of her time training, and gathering intel on the New World and Joker, whilst keeping a low profile. 

She’d sat with Kuma every day as she’d vowed, for four hours in the afternoon. She had helped fend off many of the bandits that attempted to steal the highly advanced looking ship. Despite the fact that Kuma was a cyborg with no free will, there was something calming about his presence. Katya spent a lot of time practicing her observation techniques when it was quiet, as well as reading books on topics she thought may be useful in the New World. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shakky gesturing to the phone as an invitation to use it. Katya bit chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She’d been avoiding the call, but it was time. The Red-Hair Pirates would be there shortly, and the crew on the submarine needed to know she would be there soon. 

“Purpurupurupuru-KACHA.”

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Shachi....”

“KATYA-CHAN?!” The man half-screamed then called out away from the receiver “Everyone, Katya-chan is on the Den Den Mushi!” There was a clatter on the other end of the line and Penguin’s face appeared on the snail.

“Katya, how are you? We’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too! I left the island two months ago; I’m at Sabaody right now but I’ve been waiting for a reliable ride to join you in the New World. But I set off today!”

“You’re on your way?!” Penguin’s face on the snail was joyful and Katya smiled in response.

“I’ve been training hard, and I can tell you all about the island of women if you like when I get there!”

“The forbidden knowledge~”

“I even got clothes from them. They’re a bit revealing, but...” she paused. “Hey, I haven’t heard Law yet. Is he there?”

She didn’t realise that snails could sweat drop, but she witnessed it with confusion. There was no response for a few moments before there was whispering in the background.

“I don’t wanna tell her!”

“I don’t want to either! You tell her!”

“Guys....? What’s going on?” Katya felt her heart jump into her throat and she fiddled with her necklace between her fingers. She knew he wasn’t dead, or it would have been in the papers, or Shakky would have told her. 

“Captain isn’t here.” Ikkaku’s voice came from the other end of the line. “He left three weeks ago and ordered us to sail to Zou, where Bepo is from.”

“Then where did he go?”

“He gave orders not to tell you.” Ikkaku said hesitantly. “He said that you would go after him and ‘get yourself killed’.” 

Katya grit her teeth. That bastard. “That’s not his decision to make. Where did he go, and what is he doing?”

“Honestly, Katya, we barely know. We only know what Captain told us. He said he had found the key to taking down Doflamingo of the Warlords, and was going to some kind of facility that Doflamingo owned.” Ikkaku sighed. “He doesn’t sound like he intends to come back until it’s done. Captain told us to trust him, and that he’d meet with us eventually, but it could be months.”

Katya scowled and asked as politely as she could muster “Is Bepo there?”

“Ah, yes, I’ll put him on.”

Bepo’s voice sounded cheerful. “Katya!”

“BEPO, WHY THE HELL DID YOU LET HIM GO ALONE?!” Katya roared so loudly that the Den Den Mushi snail trembled as if it feared for its life. 

“K-Katya, we-“

“Bepo, do you have a Vivre Card for Law?!”

“Yes, but he told us not to follow him.”

Katya held the receiver close to her face. “Bepo, we both know that he will throw away his life to see this through if no one stops him. I won’t let that happen. As soon as I get to the New World, I’m going to pick up Law’s Vivre Card from you and I’m going to use all the skills I’ve learnt over the past hellish year to help him take down Joker, whether he likes it or not. Do you have a number for him?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Good. I want you to relay a message for me.”

“I can give you the number...” Bepo said meekly. 

“No.”

“I’m sorry!”

“No, Bepo, I want you to phone Law and tell him that I’m on my way to the crew. But if he gets himself killed in the meantime, then I will never forgive him and I will join Eustass to spite him, is that clear?”

“Crystal clear, Katya!” 

“Oh, and Bepo?”

“Y-yes?”

“It’s really good to hear your voice.” Katya’s face fell back into a soft smile. “I’ll see you all soon.”

~

The Red-Hair Pirates were insane, Katya had decided. Despite the fact that they were submerging and sailing towards Fishman Island, the whole crew, aside from a few such as Benn that were operating the ship, were all very, VERY drunk. 

Shanks had declared that Katya joining them for a week of travelling was worthy of a party and the booze had flowed from around midday all the way through the night. Katya had told them all about her brief encounter with Luffy, and the crew ate it up. The men were all curious about the island of women, so Katya told them of her friends, but also if they wanted to live, to never ever sail there. 

It was nearing midnight and the ship had just gone underwater. Katya was incredibly nervous and elected to spend time indoors in the galley. All of the crew members she knew were not Devil Fruit users. Being underwater was a very unnerving feeling. 

“Katya-chaaaan, come sing for us!”

“I sang for three hours already,” the woman protested with a small laugh, sipping a small glass of booze. 

“But you promised us a new one!”

“I did, didn’t I?” She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but this is the last one for tonight. Don’t make me run out of songs on the first day!” She grabbed her guitar and strummed it gently, and the crew gathered in the galley excitedly. 

“South Blue nights~” Katya said gently. “Have you ever felt a South Blue night? Free as a breeze, not to mention the trees, whistling tunes that you know and love so~”

Shanks and Yasopp sat together near the back of the room and Shanks smiled warmly at Katya’s performance and the crew’s delighted reaction to it. He was incredibly drunk but still in a great mood. 

“She’s too good for this harsh sea, that girl.” The red haired man mused aloud. 

“You have a soft spot for her, don’t you?” Yasopp nudged his arm and grinned at his Captain. 

“I never had a daughter, Yasopp. But I’d like to think that, if I did, she would have been like Katya-chan.”

“I hope she meets Usopp some day. I hope that they would get on well.”

“Yasopp?”

“Hm?”

“I think I’m about to throw up.”

“Oh, for the love of god, Boss, go outside then, qui-oh, too late.”

~

The trip aboard The Red Force had been mercifully smooth sailing by the time they reached the first islands of the New World. Fishman Island was now under the flag of Big Mom, so they had steered clear of the area. Shanks was not in the mood to deal with what he called ‘that woman’s extensive brood’, so they had continued. According to Lucky Roo, the Red Force made it from a battle with Kaido in the New World to Marineford in less than a day, but it was hard work and they tended to take it easy unless the situation required it. 

The brunette had consulted with the navigators and the helmsmen regarding destination, and after another short phone call from Bepo, it was decided that the submarine would meet them at one of Shanks’ favourite hangout spots, Yukiryu Island, which was close to where the Heart Pirates were. 

The phone call had been interesting. Shachi and Penguin had nearly passed out when Katya had casually said that the crew bringing her to the New World was the Red Hair Pirates, but that there was no danger to them or Law. Bepo had been slightly distressed too, but Katya had spoken calmly and said that he trusted her judgement. 

She had barely put down the phone when Shanks poked his head around the corner of her cabin. “Knock knock!”

“Hey, Shanks-san. The plan is full speed ahead.”

“As you sure you don’t want to stay with our crew? We love your songs.” Shanks grinned at her. 

Katya laughed lightly and shook her head. “A tempting offer, but I think that my liver wouldn’t thank me for it.”

“The crew worry about you, you know. The New World...it’s a harsh place. We don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“You sound like my aunt.” Katya snorted. 

“Your aunt? Oh? What’s she like?” Shanks inquired as the two walked out to the deck to get food. 

“Terrifying. She makes grown men run for the hills with nothing but a broom.”

“Sounds like quite the lady.”

“Aunt Lila is a force to be reckoned with. What about you? I know Yasopp had a wife back home, but Shakky said something about the barmaid from Dawn Island?”

Shanks blushed slightly. “Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Benn-san!” Katya gestured to Shanks’ first mate. “Tell me about Shanks’ barmaid!”

“OOOH!” Several of the men gathered around the two. “Are you talking about Makino?”

“I take it you’ve all met her, then.” Katya grinned.

“Oh, she’s the best.” One of the men piped up. 

“Always welcoming, kind, and most incredibly, she puts up with Boss’ shit!”

A roar of laughter echoed across the deck and Shanks immediately dived at some of them and soon a chasing match was happening around them. Benn shook his head and sat down next to Katya, taking a pull from his cigarette. 

“You overheard Shakky, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Hm. Figures. She knows everything, that woman.” 

“She certainly does. Is that why you were in East Blue?”

Benn shook his head. “We had other business there, but we also go to see Makino if we’re nearby.”

“He loves her, doesn’t he?” Katya looked at Shanks, who was currently had Yasopp in what appeared to be an improvised headlock. 

“Aye.” Benn replied. “It’s tough for them, but she understands that he belongs out here on the sea.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“A long time ago.” He said gently. “But it was another life. Love is a gift. Not a lot of people remember that. Take a bit of advice from a man who’s been on this earth a little too long. Hold onto it whilst you can.”

Katya nodded as she watched the crew raise a toast together, the glint of the glasses throwing the colours of the sunset in the horizon across her vision.


	17. Stop Acting Like A Dad, Shanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red-Hair Pirates camp out whilst waiting for the submarine to arrive, but they are interrupted by another Supernova.

After a few further days of travel, as well as more booze than Katya had ever had in such a short space of time, they arrived at Yukiryu Island. Katya had foregone her Amazon Lily gear and borrowed a warm coat from a member of Shanks’ crew. The winter island was beautiful, and the crew seemed cheerful when they arrived. 

“Hey, Katya-chan, your necklace is caught in your coat.” Yasopp commented as they ambled their way through the snow to a cave slightly inland where it was dry. 

“Oh, thank you.” Katya readjusted it and smiled at Yasopp gratefully. 

“I’ve never seen you without that necklace,” the older man mused as they walked together with Shanks and Lucky Roo. 

“I don’t really take it off.” Katya admitted, her feet trudging through the snow. “It was given to me by someone....” she paused. “Important to me.”

“Ooooooh~” Yasopp teased. “A boyfriend, perhaps?”

“BOYFRIEND?!” Shanks cried out in horror, before stopping and grabbing Katya’s arms. “Katya-chan, you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?!”

“Shut up! No!” Katya said defensively, her face flushed. “Law gave it to me.”

“Trafalgar...” Shanks’ face darkened, before he gave out a mournful wail. “Don’t let him taint you, my sweet Katya-chan!”

“Boss, you need to stop being so protective of her.” Lucky Roo took a mouthful of meat and pulled Shanks away from the freckled woman. 

“Agreed. Besides, it’s a bit late for that. We’ve had sex already.” Katya replied bluntly and carried on walking forward with Yasopp, who was beginning to laugh. 

“AHHH!! THAT BASTARD, I’LL KILL HIM!”

“Boss! Calm down!”

~

Shanks had pouted grumpily half the time the crew had been hanging out on the island.

“Boss, lighten up. It’s not like you had a chance anyway.” One of men snickered. 

“Shut up! You know it’s not like that!” He hissed back. 

Katya had grown tired whilst they were walking and had fallen asleep next to Shanks by the fire, her head resting on Shanks’ coat. Her brown hair was spread out around her and she was snoozing silently, somehow activating her Devil Fruit as she slept. 

“She’s got that same bright spirit, though, Boss.” Yasopp commented. “Does it remind you of anyone?”

Shanks nodded and smiled nostalgically. “She’s like him. Full of life. It gives me hope for the young ones.”

“I’m glad her and Luffy met.” Benn said, leaning against the wall of the cave. “They share that same eternal optimism for sure.”

Shanks nodded and took another swig of his drink. “It’s something the world seems to be missing a lot of these days.” 

The young woman next to him curled slightly tighter in on herself as she unconsciously snuggled herself into the coat. 

“So cute~!” Half of the crew cooed, but then most of them suddenly went on alert. 

“Boss, do you feel that?”

“Ah.”

Footsteps approached the cave and several of the crew stood up, swords raised. 

It was not the pirates that Katya had described at all. There was no large bear mink or two men in hats. Instead, there was a tall spiky haired man with a large amount of metal attached to him. 

“Red-Hair Shanks...” Eustass Kid stepped into the light. “I’m here to take your head.” 

“Can this wait twenty minutes?” Shanks yawned slightly. “We were having a nice camp out and I don’t think I could forgive you if our fight wakes this sleeping beauty.” 

Kid craned his head to look at the asleep woman. “Oi, what the hell is that bitch doing with you?!”

The crew around Shanks winced slightly as the two red haired men stared at each other. “Right, guys,” Yasopp got to his feet. “This is going to be an ugly one, so let’s put the booze in a safer place.”

“You should think twice about calling my daughter a bitch.”

Kid sweatdropped as the crew all cried out “Boss, she’s not your daughter! Stop being so overprotective.”

“Tch. Well, whatever. I’m not here for her. I’m here to slay a Yonkou.”

“Kid, let’s at least move her away from here.” Killer said from behind him. “If you’re going all out, you’d get mad at yourself if you hurt her.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Kid.”

“Fine.”

Katya stirred and her eyes fluttered open. “Mmm...what time is it?” She lifted her head sleepily and blinked. “Shanks-san?”

“Ah, it’s not quite sunset. But we have company. I’m sorry this bastard woke you.”

“Oi!” Kid shouted. 

“Huh? Why is Kid here?” Katya sat up with a shot, nearly hitting her head on Shanks’ knee from where he was sat.

“How do you know her?” Shanks looked at Kid with an annoyed expression. 

“Don’t answer that if you want to keep your head.” Katya shot back immediately in response. 

“We fucked once.” Kid responded.

A strong wave of Haki burst out from Shanks as the man got to his feet. Katya swayed where she was and fell back asleep. She was too tired to stop herself from resisting the Conqueror’s Haki. 

“Oh, shit.” Yasopp muttered. “Boss!”

Shanks blinked and looked down at the passed out Katya. “Oops.” 

“Weak.” Kid spat in annoyance, which had Shanks’ head snapping back up to meet the man’s gaze. The crew looked between them with intrigue. Those that weren’t were quickly beginning to pull out various wallets and pouches of money. 

“10,000 Beri that Boss won’t leave him alive.” Lucky Roo said to Yasopp. 

“20,000 says he castrates him.” Yasopp replied, and the two looked to Benn. 

Beckman sighed. “I’ll log it in the bet book. May I remind you that you two owe me a good 300,000 Beri between you whilst we’re here?” 

“15,000 that Boss kicks him in the balls!”

“Seconded!”

Benn walked over to Katya and gently shook her shoulder. “Katya, it’s time to go. I sensed your crew arriving.”

Katya sighed and wiped her eyes as she awoke. “Kid, you can’t win against him.” She crossed her arms and picked up a bottle of drink as she grabbed her belongings. “Shanks-san, if you’re going to fight him, do you mind if I take my things to the shore and wait for the sub? Benn said it wasn’t far off.”

“Of course. Don’t be a stranger, Katya. You’re always welcome to party with us.” Shanks beamed at her. “And send your new album when you can!”

“I will. Oh, and please don’t kill Eustass. He’s an asshole but I know my Captain wants to kick his butt himself, so leave some of him, will you?”

“Stop presuming I’m going to lose, woman!” Kid snapped at her. 

“I’m not presuming. I know you’ll lose. Just don’t beat yourself up too much.” She turned to Killer. “I trust you to look after him. We’ll meet again, so take care, all of you!” She waved happily to both crews before beginning to walk out of the cave.

“She is a pain, but damn do I like watching her go.” Kid muttered appreciatively at Katya’s figure as she strode out of the cave.

“Change in bet. I say he loses at least a limb or two by the look on Boss’s face.” Yasopp grinned to Lucky Roo, before they moved out of the way so their Captain could battle the Supernova.


	18. The Polar Tang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya rejoins the crew and meets the new members of the Heart Pirates. A letter is given.

Stepping onto the Polar Tang’s deck, Katya beamed at the familiar feeling of her crew mates. Her observation Haki was allowing her to sense things throughout the submarine, including all the crew before her. Ikkaku reached her first and hugged her tightly. Shachi and Penguin swiftly joined and soon there was a gigantic group hug going with the eighteen or so pirates present.

“There’s more of us!” She exclaimed excitedly. 

Ikkaku grinned. “There’s over twenty of us now!”

“It’s so good to see you, Katya-chan!” Bepo said happily and he rubbed his cheek against her face. “Did you see any female bears on the island of women?”

“I’m afraid not, Bepo. If I had, I’d have put in a good word for you.”

“The island! Please tell us what it was like, Katya-chan!” Half of the men on the crew began begging her, but Katya focused on Bepo, who looked nervous. 

“How was he when he left?” She asked quietly. 

“Determined, as always. But like he had the attitude that he wouldn’t see us again.” 

Katya had worried as much. Law’s obsession with revenge against Doflamingo didn’t seem to be something that had subsided. 

“He left a letter for you.” Ikkaku said suddenly, pulling a note out of her boiler suit pocket. Katya opened it and read it carefully. 

Katya,

If you’re reading this, you’ve made it back to the submarine. I hope your training proved fruitful. I understand that you will be upset that I am not with the rest of the crew. I have discovered how to bring down Joker using his underworld connection of one Caesar Clown. I don’t know if you know this yet, but there is an underworld reward for your capture. I know that you will want to come after me, but you are safest with the crew. 

If I come back from this, I want to see how you improved your powers. I am still going to punish you for leaving, though. 

Law 

P.S. Write some new songs with the crew, please. I am sick of hearing Yellow Submarine sung over and over. 

Katya sighed. “That idiot.”

“What did it say? We’ve been debating for weeks.”

“What were the bets?” Katya arched an eyebrow at them. 

“W-What bets?” Shachi said innocently, although he really was an awful liar. 

“Just lay it on me.”

“I said it would be asking about female bears!”

“NO-ONE THINKS THAT BUT YOU!” Shachi and Penguin yelled at Bepo. 

“I said it would be a racy love letter.” Ikkaku smirked mischievously. 

“It’s just him being an asshole, really.” Katya passed the letter to Ikkaku to read as there was an explosion from the island they were leaving in the distance. 

“What was that?” Connor cried out. 

“Probably Shanks-san trying to protect my non-existent virginity and honour.”

“You really know too many scary people.” Ikkaku muttered as she continued to read. “If Captain’s given these as orders, he’ll be livid if you go after him.”

“Tell someone who will listen.” Katya said stubbornly. 

“It’s really like a romantic novel, racing to be together as you hate being apart!”

“Ikkaku, you’ve been very lonely the past year, haven’t you?”

~

Katya could not sleep for worry. Law was alone pursuing a fellow Shichibukai. Furthermore, she had been informed by the crew of Law’s new technique ‘Mes’ and how he had delivered 100 hearts of fellow pirates to the Marines in order to become a warlord. She wasn’t exactly impressed by the brutality of it. Yet her whole being begged to be near Law again. It was like some crazed innate desire to protect him and be near him. 

Bepo had, with some reluctance, given her a piece of Law’s Vivre Card. Katya lay in her bunk as the crew slept, watching the small paper move, as if terrified it would burn up and disappear. 

Being alone on an island with only women for a year had done nothing for Katya’s mentality either. It was like the more she didn’t see Law, the more her body wanted him. Foolish woman, she chastised. You’re not making that mistake again. Besides, it would now be sleeping with your Captain! That probably broke a bunch of unwritten rules. But the thought of him kissing her like he used to, biting her neck and the feel of his hips against hers...

Nope, nope, she needed to remove that mental image. She couldn’t just lust after her Captain. Especially as he’d left. Again. Maybe Law would always choose his agenda over her. Maybe he wouldn’t. But there was part of her that was beginning to not care. 

She had an idea for a song with those thoughts, and went to find a quiet place on the sub to record. Katya had left her recording equipment on the ship and retrieved it from storage easily. Realising she could use anywhere if she used her fruit to soundproof, she wandered around. Eventually, she found herself at Law’s cabin. He was the only one besides Bepo that had a private cabin. 

She slipped inside and whispered “Silent”. The hum of the submarine faded from the room and it was utterly quiet. She looked around. Law was fairly tidy, she noted. His desk was cluttered with papers, but the rest of the room was spotless. She went towards Law’s bed. It had not been touched in a while, that much was obvious. She sat down and put her hands down on the duvet cover. The whole room smelled like Law and it comforted her somewhat. Like he would be back soon. 

Katya set up her recording equipment quickly, determined not to let the song idea fade. She tapped the microphone to test it before grabbing a blank tone dial from her bag. It would do until she could get to a proper studio. 

“I just made an appointment for a special rendez-vous...” she began to sing, crafting the lyrics and tune. This would be one of her new favourites. 

The early morning rays of sun were beginning to creep through the portholes of Law’s bedroom as Katya sang through the final draft of the song. 

“Doctor I want you, ooh, my Doctor wanna do, I can't get over you.  
Dr. do anything that ya wanna do...” she finished finally, clicking the Tone Dial to stop recording. It was complete.

Katya yawned slightly and laid back. As she did, something caught her eye. By Law’s bedside was a small framed photograph. It was the one she had taken of the crew on Amazon Lily before she left. Everyone was smiling and laughing in the picture. Katya herself had her arms around Law’s midriff with a joyous expression. The brunette felt a lump in her throat as she looked at it. 

Law had so much to live for now. His crew adored him, and she wasn’t going to let him sacrifice himself for the memory of someone who clearly wanted him to live. She pulled out the Vivre Card from her pocket. She would find Law and help him take down Joker. She wouldn’t watch that paper burn up.

~

After much coercion, Bepo conceded to Katya’s request to follow the Vivre Card to Law. Mostly it was to stop her stubbornly going alone. 

She had gotten to know the other new crew members whilst they sailed. Most of them had been recruited from the pirate crews of those that Law had captured to get the one hundred pirate hearts. They all seemed like decent people whom fit well with the crew’s dynamic. The new members had all been very intrigued to meet Katya.

“I thought these guys were exaggerating about you,” one whistled in surprise as Katya finished singing a song for the crew over breakfast. It was one that she’d written on Amazon Lily. 

“You listened to her Tone Dials, Simon.” Shachi rolled his eyes. 

“You didn’t say how beautiful she was, though.” The man, Simon, grinned at Katya sat next to him, who blushed lightly. 

“Simon’s our newest member,” Ikkaku came and sat down in between Katya and Simon, elbowing the man towards another newer crew member, Ollie. “He hasn’t quite gotten the memo.”

“What memo?” Katya said in confusion. 

“Katya, have you never wondered why none of the guys ever hit on you?” Ikkaku let out a light laugh. 

“No...” Katya’s brow furrowed as she took a sip of her cup of coffee. “Is it because they were afraid of you beating them up?”

“Well, yes. But also, because everyone knows about you and Captain!” 

Katya snorted. “There’s nothing between Law and I. Not anymore.”

“So I totally imagined watching you two make out just before we left Amazon Lily.”

Katya spat out her coffee into her cup, which led to a mild coughing fit. She grabbed a napkin and mopped up the spillage. “You SAW?!”

Ikkaku’s eyes went comically wide. “NO! That was a joke!”

“You and Captain KISSED?!” Penguin ran over. 

“I mean we joked about it because we left you two alone for a moment when you stayed on the island, but we didn’t actually believe it!” Ikkaku clarified. 

“I can see why Captain hums her songs in the medbay now.” Daniel laughed. 

Katya was bright red. “It was a spur of the moment thing.”

“Sure it was.” Ikkaku teased. 

“There’s no point in discussing it, Ikkaku. We’re not together anymore.”

“Oh my god, you two have it BAD for each other. Captain was moping for like two weeks after you left.”

“We have bigger concerns.” Katya said, shutting down the conversation. “Law is after Doflamingo, alone. I know that he wanted to do research to take down the man somewhat subtly, but leaving you all behind just seems reckless.”

“We wanted to go too.” Penguin argued. “Bepo even put on his cute face. But you know what Captain’s like when he’s made up his mind about something. He’s stubborn. Like you.”

“If he’s going to take out Joker, I want to have his back. The bastard is after me and I won’t be able to live as I want until his goons have dropped the price on my head.” 

“We know, Katya-chan,” Shachi said reassuringly. “Honestly, out of all of us, you’re the one who could help Captain the most. This mission requires him to be undercover, and you have great stealth with your Devil Fruit abilities. Which is why we’re not stopping you.”

“Just look after him.” Ikkaku said. “When we left, he spoke to us as if he wouldn’t see us again.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“We know.”


	19. Frozen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya leaves for Punk Hazard, but encounters trouble getting to the island.

“I’ll see you at Zou.” Katya smiled warmly at Bepo and scratched part of his head. “Find a female bear and sing to her.”

“I will if I can!”

Katya looked across the deck at the island in the distance. It appeared to be an absolute nightmare of a place. Half of it was covered in snow and the other half looked like it was on fire. It had taken nearly a week to travel to the place as they had to go back on their route to Yukiryu Island. 

“I’m going to head for the snow covered part.” Katya said as she climbed into the small wooden boat that would take her to the island. She was nervous about rowing herself to shore but it wasn’t far, and she’d be able to cope hopefully. 

“Be safe, Katya-chan.” Shachi and Jake gave her a few parcels of food, as well as a life jacket and putting her belongings in an air-tight bag. 

“I’ll do my best to look out for him.”

She put everything in the boat and bid her farewells to the crew.

Thus began the long row to the island. It was hard work and her shoulders burned after half an hour of rowing. She had built up her stamina training at Amazon Lily but she still wasn’t very strong. The submarine was now out of sight and for the first time in a while, Katya was truly on her own. 

PHYOOOOOOM!

A cannon ball crashed into the sea right by Katya’s left side. She was being fired at?! She rowed faster. The sooner she got to the island, the better. Falling into the water, even with her life vest, would drain her of her strength, plus the icy cold waters would be dangerous. The Heart Pirate knew that she couldn’t do much against cannons aside from attempt to dodge them. 

“SHIT!” She felt the cannon ball come towards her before it hit, but no matter what a person does, they can’t always move fast enough. The metal ball ripped the front off the small rowing boat and Katya panicked immediately as water flooded in. The shore wasn’t far, but she couldn’t swim. 

Katya raced to get the life vest out that the crew had given her. The water reached her ankles and she felt like she could collapse. She used the last of her strength to put the vest on her head and secure the sides. She kept as strong a grip as she could on her airtight bag and managed to attach it to her wrist. The water was even colder than she imagined and she immediately began to shiver. 

The effect of the water was crippling. It was like all her energy had been drained out of her like how one would drain the sap from a plant. The effort to keep her head lolled against the side of the life vest rather than slumping it forward took all of her effort. 

She didn’t know how long she drifted. Her hands were beginning to turn blue and her teeth chattered. Hypothermia was not how she had intended to die. In fact, she hadn’t ever planned to die until she had accomplished her dream of being the most well-known singer in the world. 

“SHURORORORORO! What do we have here?” 

Katya tried to lift her head, but it was in vain. 

“She’s still alive. Probably a Devil Fruit user, or she’d have swum for longer after we hit her.” A green haired woman with wings was flying above her. “Could be an interesting one to study.”

“Hmm...”

“Besides, didn’t you kill one of the nurses for the Biscuit Room yesterday?”

“Ah, yes.” The other person, a man with bright lipstick and a coat that had ‘GAS’ printed either side, crooned. “That could be useful. Pick her up, and we’ll take her back with us.”

Katya’s brain felt fuzzy. No, she had to get to Law, she had to get......

The freckled woman’s head slumped forward in exhaustion as the bird looking woman lifted her up out of the ocean and flew towards the island. 

~

Trafalgar Law was not having a good day. He was still repairing the crew of pirates that Caesar had demanded of him to use as further bodyguards. The things he did in order to get Caesar to trust him. He had just finished attaching a horse leg to a pirate that had lost one, and he felt tired. Keeping his Room active for long periods of time made him exhausted, not to mention irritable. 

“Open the door! Master-sama and Monet-sama are coming back!” One of the hazmat suited workers rushed past the room where Law was operating. He rubbed his temples. There was no peace with them around. 

The large doors to the facility could be heard opening from down the long hall. Law put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room. He needed to do some more analysis of the SAD room. Calculating the correct time to strike against Doflamingo was key. 

“We found an intruder.” Monet flew up beside him. “She was sailing towards the island and we sank her boat. She’s quite unwell, but we can make use for her. The children need a new caretaker for now.”

“Keep me out of things. I am here to vacation. I take time away from being a Shichibukai, and you get a bodyguard. That was the deal. It’s bad enough you had me fixing those messed up pirates’ limbs, Monet-ya.”

“Suit yourself. Caesar-sama is going to send her to the Biscuits Room as soon as she recovers from her hypothermia. She was in the ocean for a while.”

“Shurororororo! Maybe you can use her for your own experiments, Law!” Caesar floated up to the two. “You do like taking people apart.”

“Tch.” Law looked away. “I’m busy.”

“She probably won’t survive at this rate. She looks quite blue.” Monet remarked thoughtfully. “Aren’t you some kind of doctor?”

“I am a doctor, Monet-ya.”

“Then fix her. We need an attendant for the children since the last one ‘quit’.”

Law grit his teeth. “Fine, but then no more favours for three days. I’m working on things.”

“Deal.”

“Here she is. We think she might be a Devil Fruit user, too, shurororo!” Caesar called forward the metal bed the young woman was being wheeled on. Her hair covered her face. There were hints of ice on it. Not good, Law thought. She’ll need to be treated immediately. 

“I’ll take her into the medical room.” Law said and gestured to the room up the hall. The two men wheeling the bed went ahead of the trio. 

“I’ll come to retrieve her in a day or so.” Monet said coolly. “Then she can go to work with the children.”

“Ah.” Law nodded and strode towards the medical room whilst Caesar and Monet went round the corner towards the living quarters. 

He entered the room and the two men in hazmat suits had removed their helmets. 

“Huh, she’s quite cute.” One said to the other. 

“Shame she’s probably not going to make it though. What a waste.” The other agreed. 

“Unless you know how to treat her, leave.” Law said coldly, and the two men fled the room in haste. The Surgeon or Death scared them for certain. Law sighed and went over to the woman. There was a bag tied around her wrist and he removed it, placing it aside. 

The woman’s clothing was soaked through, and would need to be removed. The hypothermia would only increase if the clothes were cold and wet. Law tilted the woman’s head upright and gently removed the hair that covered her face. 

The familiar freckles felt like a punch to his chest. He cast his Room and used it to slam the door shut. 

“....Katya-ya!” The doctor cried out in shock as he saw the brunette’s face in full. There were icicles forming on her eyelids, plus her lips were cracked and blue. She had mere minutes at this rate. 

“....forgive me for this, Katya.” Law used his powers to remove the woman’s wet clothing. For now, Katya wasn’t a woman he wanted to lavish. She was a dying member of his crew. 

Law switched on every heater in the room and began to use his powers to save the female Heart Pirate.


	20. The Biscuits Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law and Katya reunite. Undercover work begins.

The fuzzy black shapes haunted her dreams again. They were getting clearer. Snow was falling as the fuzzy black shapes drifted in the wind of her dream. 

“Law...” An unfamiliar voice said in the depths of her dream. She could almost see.... 

BANG!

“Ah!” Katya abruptly awoke. She opened her eyes to see an IV drip next to her. Those dreams again. It felt like the answer to what they were was just out of reach. More crucially, where was she? Her limbs felt tingly and she quickly assessed the situation. There were multiple blankets wrapped around her body making it difficult to move. There was a metal cup on the floor that had fallen off a bedside table, causing the bang. 

“Ugh.” She groaned. Whoever those weird people were that had shot at her, she would make sure they got a knife straight into their artery. Or if she was feeling more generous, she’d just use her powers to take away their hearing. 

She wiped her eyes and tried her best to sit up. There was no-one else in the room. There was medical equipment lying around on tables, but otherwise it was rather plain. She grimaced at the cannula in her hand. Her bag was on the bedside table thankfully intact. Huh. At least her captors had let her keep that. 

Wait. She panicked. Law’s vivre card had been in her coat pocket when the boat hit. She looked around desperately for it, before she spotted it hung up on a radiator. The brunette untangled herself from the blankets and stepped out of the bed. The IV line began to shorten and she figured she was strong enough to go without it for a few minutes so she pulled the cannula carefully out from her hand, squirming as she did so in discomfort. 

She looked down at her attire. A simple white gown was on her, thankfully not backless like the ones on the Polar Tang. No shoes, but she could deal with that for the moment. The woman made her way carefully to the coat and fumbled in the pocket she had left it in. Empty. 

“No...” she breathed. “No, no, no!” Katya desperately searched all the other pockets before trying her bag. She had emptied most of it on the floor when she heard footsteps approaching. She grabbed one of her throwing knives from the bag and hid behind a cabinet. 

The door opened and Katya readied herself, blade poised to throw. “Silent.” She whispered and the room became soundproof immediately. 

“Oi.” The only other person within the bubble said. 

Katya didn’t hesitate and sent the blade flying in the direction of the noise. The person at the door dodged quickly and the knife buried itself in the wall behind them. 

“My, my, Katya-ya. You really did spend that time fruitfully.”

The young woman let out a broken cry of relief and came out from behind the cabinet. Law leaned against the wall casually, Kikoku perched on his shoulder. The yellow sweatshirt was gone and replaced by a long black coat. But it was unmistakably him. 

“Law!” 

Katya raced across the room to him and grabbed him into a hug. The Surgeon of Death did not hug her back so much as ease her away from him. 

“Katya-ya, you are not supposed to be here.” 

“I came to find you. We’re supposed to take down Joker together.”

“How did you even get here?”

“It’s a long story but the short version is I hitched a ride with a Yonkou, tried to prevent Eustass fighting said Yonkou then the crew found me, I took your Vivre Card and came here. I was then attacked by a man with terrible makeup and a bird lady and I woke up in here.” The woman replied mostly in one breath. 

“I have a lot of questions.”

“I’ll bet.”

“If Joker knows you’re here, you will be taken from me immediately. Caesar is his direct subordinate. I cannot risk losing Caesar’s trust in me. Dammit, Katya, why couldn’t you just stay with the crew?!” He growled. 

“You owe me a pair of underwear.”

“That’s not a reason!”

Katya sighed and sat back down on the bed. “Well, there’s no way I’m getting off this island without help, and I sent the others to Zou without me.”

Law crossed his arms. “They think you’re some nobody that could help with the children that are being treated at this facility. Those children aren’t to do with me. Caesar thinks I’m here to study the World Government research. He can’t know that you are my crew mate, or that you have the Calm Calm Fruit, which I see you are using at the moment. I can’t hear anything beyond this room.”

Katya nodded. “I’m sorry I made this complicated for you.”

“There’s nothing that can be done now. Play along with the ruse that you don’t know me. Do as they say for now, and we’ll find a way for you to leave.”

Katya fumed. “I don’t intend to leave.”

“Katya.” Law’s voice lowered. “I am not having you placed in the line of Joker. I sent the crew away for the same reason. He is too powerful. I will not stand to lose any of you.”

Katya’s fingers went to her necklace. “Our timing really is awful, isn’t it?”

Law noticed the gesture and sighed. 

“Law?”

“Yes, Katya-ya?”

“I missed you.” The young woman leaned forward and placed her head upon his shoulder. This time, Law put an arm around her, before gently picking her up and putting her back onto the bed. 

“Rest, and let me put the damn IV back in. It was there for a reason, you know.”

“Sorry.”

~

It was dawn when Monet came to fetch her for her new duty down at the facility. Whatever the ‘Biscuits Room’ was, it seemed to be important enough that Katya was talked through procedures about when the children had their medicine. 

She was a little sore from the previous day. She had several bruises and she felt weak, but Katya was on the mend. She did, after all, have the best doctor looking after her. 

The freckled woman had retrieved her clothes from her airtight bag and felt much more confident with her thin purple coat once more over her shoulders. Inside the facility was mostly warm, despite being in a freezing cold part of the island. 

“You shall not address the Master. Any issues, contact one of the people that report to me, Grace.”

Katya had used a fake name when Monet had asked her who she was. The brunette had considered using her stage name, Silena Siren, but she couldn’t risk it. Doflamingo may be looking for both Takimi Katya and Silena Siren. Law had said to keep a low profile, so she had given the name Grace. She was wary of seeing these children that Monet had spoken of. She imagined rows upon rows of hospital beds in a cold dark room, each child frail and clinging to life. It made her stomach turn.

“Here. Someone will be here to bring them their medicine at 11.” Monet gestured to a large door and Katya opened it. 

Inside was nothing like she had expected. The floor was brightly coloured and dotted with toys; meanwhile, there were sea creatures hanging from mobiles and rainbows painted on the walls. It looked like a normal playroom for children. 

The normalcy stopped there. There were huge wooden blocks around and a football twice the height of Katya. The children in the room were a mix of sizes, but some were absolutely huge. Katya gasped. Some of these children had to be at least three metres tall!

“M-Monet-sama...” 

She turned to ask a question but the door had closed behind her. 

“Hello,” she waved at the children sheepishly. “I’m Grace, I’ll be looking after you for now.”

The children seemed a little wary of her but a few walked forward to investigate. 

“I’ve not seen her before.” One of the children said quietly. 

“My ship crashed,” Katya lied. “I washed up on the island. I didn’t have a way home so I got a job here looking after you.”

“Oh....” the children looked at each other warily. 

“I promise I’ll do my best!” Katya smiled warmly and noticed a drawing in one of the smaller children’s hands. “Oh, that’s a great drawing. Is that a ship?”

“Yeah!” The child replied. 

“It’s a good looking ship! I’ve seen lots of ships in my time.”

The child’s eyes brightened. “Can you tell us about them?”

Katya sat down on one of the block and began to tell the children about the Kuja Pirates ship that was pulled by snakes, of the Red Force with its huge flag and of course, her own Captain’s submarine. The children listened in fascination, and their earlier fear at the unexpected arrival dissipated. She began to learn their names one by one. Mocha. Sind. Ally. 

The children didn’t seem to be very sick, but Katya assumed that maybe it was some kind of immunodeficiency or something. She could probably ask Law about it later. They said that the Master of the facility, Caesar, had apparently lost his son to the disease that they all had. 

“Medicine time.” The door opened after a few hours and an unfamiliar woman walked in with a tray of what appeared to be sweets. “Ah, you must be the new caretaker. Pass these round to the children.” The lady, dressed in scrubs, gestured to the candies. 

“Of course,” Katya complied and began to distribute them across the room. When she was finished, she spoke gently to the woman. “Why do they look like candies?”

“Oh, some of the children found it frightening to take pills, so Caesar-sama made them look more fun.”

That would make sense, Katya nodded. “Fair enough.”

“They’ll probably fall asleep soon, so you can go for your lunch break.”

“I’ll stay here a little longer.” Katya waved her hand. “But thank you.”

The woman in scrubs disappeared and Katya sat with the children until they napped, even singing them one of her more appropriate songs to soothe them into sleep.


	21. Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya begins to find out more about Punk Hazard. The children get to know their new helper.

Katya was tired by the time she made her way to the mess hall for lunch. There were a number of people in there with hazmat suits on. Some had foregone them, however. She collected a tray of food and sat on a table by herself. 

“Excuse me?” One of the men strode up to the table. “Are you the lady that washed up on the island?”

“Yes, I am.” Katya smiled warmly. She didn’t want to get friendly with any of these people, but it was part of the facade she had to continue. “I’m Grace, a pleasure to meet you.”

“So cute!” A number of men behind the other instantly rushed to sit by her table.

“You were so blue when Caesar-sama brought you inside!”

“Your freckles are adorable!”

Katya waved her hands shyly and answered their questions. She lied that she had been on a merchant ship but it had capsized and she had escaped in the only lifeboat as the singular survivor of the wreck. The men fussed over her and told her lots of encouraging things about shipwreck survivors. It was all rather ridiculous, but Katya at least had company. 

“So Grace-chan,” one of the men, Jared, asked. “Where do you come from?”

“Oh, I come from a small island in the South Blue. I came to the Grand Line with my relatives to begin a new life. But my grandpa passed away...” Fake tears swam in her eyes. 

“Grace-chan, we’re so sorry!” Jared cried and several of the other men joined in. They were buying her lies so easily, and by the end of the lunch break, Katya had a large proportion of the men in attendance under her thumb. They had enthusiastically offered to walk her back to the Biscuits Room. 

As they walked along the corridor, Law passed them. Katya was giggling and thanking them ever so much for all their ‘gracious chivalry’. She caught Law’s eyes briefly but the two couldn’t acknowledge each other out in the open. 

“That Shichibukai freaks me out.” Another of the group of men, Liam, had commented. 

“Does anyone know why he’s even here?” A second man said.

“I think he serves as Caesar-sama’s bodyguard.” Jared mused. 

“He seems so frightening.” Katya put on a terrified face. “What a man like that could do to someone....” she clasped her hands together. “What a horrible thought!”

If Katya’s hearing hadn’t been so good, she might have missed the slight snort that came from Law’s direction. The others did not hear it and began to comfort her. 

“Don’t worry about him, Grace-chan!” Jared said. “You’re one of us now! That Warlord won’t lay a finger on any of Caesar-sama’s staff!”

“Absolutely!” Liam agreed and put an arm around her shoulder. Katya struggled to keep a straight face as her Haki detected the rage coming off Law as a result of the other man touching her. 

~

The men led her to the Biscuits Room and said their goodbyes. Katya went back into the room and the children’s eyes lit up. 

“Grace onee-chan is back!” They crowded around her. “Can you sing for us again?”

“Of course! What kind of song would you like?” 

“One about adventures!” Ally said, sitting next to her. 

“No! One about robots!” Sind argued back. 

“Um...” one of the smallest children tugged on the bottom of her skirt. She looked to be about five or six. 

“What’s your name?” Katya knelt down.

“I’m Jess, Grace onee-chan.”

“Hello there, Jess. What kind of song would you like?”

“Can you sing a song that we can dance to?” Katya was taken aback. 

“Are you well enough to dance?”

“I think so.” Jess nodded. “My parents used to dance a lot.” She said nervously. 

“That sounds fun,” Katya smiled gently at her and she looked around at the other children. Their eyes darted nervously towards one another. 

“But Grace onee-chan, we don’t know how to dance.” One of the larger girls, Mocha said. 

“Dancing is about having fun, not always looking good.” Katya grinned. She’d trained to dance in order to perform, but the best kind of dancing was always the kind that was improvised, goofy and fun. She swirled her arms above her head and tapped her feet. “See?” 

Mocha copied her movement and beamed as the other children looked at her with sparkly eyes. “That was so cool, Mocha!”

Katya did a few more moves and did a few silly dance moves that Penguin often did when he was drinking. Lots of waving arm work and no technique whatsoever. Jess bounced up and down and the room was soon full of awful dance moves. 

Katya began to sing as they danced around the room. 

“All we need is a drummer, for people who only need a beat! I’m gonna add a little guitar and make it easy to move your feet!”

She climbed onto one of the wooden blocks and kept singing as the children jumped around happily. “Dance to the music, dance to the music~!”

She took Jess’s hands in hers and twirled the young child around. The girl began to smile for the first time since Katya arrived. It reminded Katya of the reason she sang. It was to bring joy to others. Music brought people together.


	22. Life On Punk Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law and Katya settle into a routine on the island, but their plans are interrupted by the arrival of the Straw Hats.

The next few months passed uneventfully. Katya, under full disguise as Grace, had become fully trusted by all those in the facility. The children adored her and she sang for them every day. 

Under the cover of night, she would use her abilities to sneak to Law’s living quarters. The man had given up his attempts to send her away after she had managed to get to areas of the facility he hadn’t been able to due to her Devil Fruit abilities, as well as eavesdrop on conversations. Thanks to Katya’s Devil Fruit and Law’s outward contempt for anyone who disturbed him in his room, they were never interrupted. They discussed strategy against Doflamingo, they trained together, and did an awful lot of flirting. 

Law had not tried to define what kind of relationship they had, and Katya was content with that for the moment. She had nearly been caught coming back from Law’s room once or twice by someone on patrol, but had passed it off to them as insomnia to those who inquired why she was walking around in the dead of night. They had stopped meeting as frequently in the last month due to the fact that Katya had nearly been caught, and they agreed to keep their guards up. 

The last few weeks had been strange in the Biscuits Room. Mocha had been withdrawn, as had a young boy with a partially shaven head, who had disappeared shortly after arriving in the room. Katya had attempted to speak to him but it hadn’t worked. 

She continued to perform her duties but that morning there seemed to be tension around the whole facility. The rumour was that a ship had been spotted on the horizon headed towards the island. Katya had kept an eye out, but kept to herself. If it was urgent, Law would find her. She’d accidentally fallen asleep on the sofa in his quarters the night before after a late night medical training session. Mostly it was Law practicing a new technique whilst she read books in an attempt to understand what was going on. Her medical knowledge wasn’t great, but she now knew basic first aid at least. 

The children had continued to grow larger and larger, with some such as Sind reaching around four metres tall. They seemed well in themselves, though Katya began to question whether the medicine was slowing down whatever was happening to them effectively enough. 

“Catch me if you caaaan!” Katya raced around the room whilst Ginko, one of the new arrivals, chased her. Ginko was giggling but then the sound of a large explosion rocked the Biscuits Room. 

“Everyone, get behind me!” Katya called and turned to face the intruders. Sind dropped his ball in shock.

“Who are you?” Mocha said nervously at the four people that entered the room. Katya observed them. There was something very familiar about some of them. 

“Gigantic children?” The blonde man said, and what appeared to be a severed head under his arm repeated the words. Law’s work, then. Whomever they were, the man with the severed head was obviously not in Law’s good books. 

“What’s going on here?!” An orange haired woman exclaimed. 

“Wait,” Katya paused and stepped forward. “I’ve seen you before.”

“Who are you?” The severed head screamed. “And what’s with the children?!” 

“Grace onee-chan...” Jess’ bottom lip wobbled and she stepped behind Katya nervously. 

“It’s okay, everyone.” She said soothingly. “Sit down for a moment and I’ll talk to our...guests.” Katya stormed up to them. 

“What are you doing here?” She hissed quietly. 

“Wait, I recognise her!” The reindeer, Chopper exclaimed. “We saw her on Sabaody with one of the Supernovas!”

“Shhhh!” Katya hissed and dragged them to the side of the room. “The children don’t know that. Are you with Luffy?” She said urgently. 

“You know Luffy?”

“Long story, now why are you all here?!” 

“We landed on this island. What is this place? Some kind of nursery?” The orange haired woman, whom Katya recognised as Cat Burglar Nami, asked. 

“Yes. I look after the children here, and they know me as Grace. Do NOT blow my cover, or I will kill you!” She said angrily.

“Grace onee-chan, are they the ones that were frozen?” Mocha asked quietly. 

“I’m not sure.” She replied with a comforting smile. “But we’ll find out.”

“This island is getting more and more mysterious.” Cyborg Franky spoke up and Sind’s eyes sparkled. Oh no, she knew that look. 

“A robot!” The children all rushed forward excitedly. 

“W-what?”

“It’s a robot! It’s so cool!” 

“Watch out!” Katya called as the blonde, Sanji, was nearly sent flying by one of the larger children’s feet. 

“Oh my my, do you like armoured me so much?” Franky posed for the children. 

“Look, it’s a stuffed animal!” One of them cried, pointing at Chopper. “A stuffed tanuki!”

“That’s a reindeer...” Katya said with a laugh as a large hand picked up Chopper. 

“Franky’s sure popular with these kids.” Sanji said offhandly. 

“They’re kids, they like shiny things.” Katya crossed her arms. “And they’re also ill and here for treatment. What are you all doing here? You’re going to ruin months of my Captain’s plans!” She growled at the man, who paused for a moment. 

“A beautiful lady!” The man’s body seemed to twirl around happily. He reminded her oddly of Shachi and Penguin, but with even less tact. 

“SUPER!” All of the children shouted together happily. 

“These idiots are going to ruin everything.” Katya facepalmed. 

~

“Hey! Do any of you know a child named Momonosuke?!” A voice cried out. Katya looked at the severed head that had been put on the floor. 

“Momonosuke?” She said, stepping forward. “Small kid, top knot, grumpy?”

“Yes! Where is he, damned woman?” 

Katya growled. “I don’t know! And stop being so rude! You’re scaring them! Besides, even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you!”

“Eh?!”

“You’re in pieces but you can still talk, which means Law cut you up!”

She pulled out one of her throwing knives from a holster under her skirt and held it up ready to attack them. She would protect the children, no matter what. This whole facility was full of enemies, but the children were innocent. 

The Straw Hats suddenly looked towards the door, where footsteps were racing towards it. Guns cocked and pointed towards the Straw Hats. Katya screamed and stood in front of them. “Stop! Liam-kun!” She recognised one of the labelled suits. “You’ll hurt the children!”

Liam lowered his gun. “Grace-chan, are you hurt?”

“No, I’m okay!” 

“Leave them to us!” Liam and his unit ran past them in pursuit. Katya followed quickly and soon outran then, catching up closely to the children. 

“Robot-san, you aren’t from this island, are you?”

“No-“

“Save us!” Sind shouted suddenly to them. “Please, save us!”

The others joined in and Katya was taken aback. Save them?

“Save you?” Katya said to Mocha worriedly. Mocha backed away from her.

“We’re not sick! You know that!” Mocha shouted at her angrily. 

“What?” Katya stopped running. “You are sick, they told me that you were sick!” 

“Liar! You’re with them!” Mocha said, and knocked Katya away with the back of her hand, sending Katya flying into the wall. She felt herself tear up as Mocha shouted to the Straw Hats to save them. 

Katya winced as she sat up, her eyes wide in horror. If they weren’t sick, why were they there? Her heart sank into her stomach. 

“Let’s help these children!” Nami was declaring as Katya finally caught up.

“What are you saying, Nami-san?! There’s no reason to do that!” The blonde said, the severed head back under his arm. “They even said they were sick! This might be a hospital!”

Katya stepped forward with tears in her eyes. “It’s not.” 

“Huh?”

“I should have realised sooner...” She sobbed and turned to Mocha. “If you were really sick, then they would have gotten Law to treat you!”

Mocha’s tears fell down and Katya swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry, I should have seen that this place wasn’t helping you!” She knelt down and cried at Mocha’s feet. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You must all hate me!”

Little Jess ran forward. “Grace onee-chan, we don’t hate you! You were nice to us! You sang songs and played with us and told us stories!”

“They’re going to get away!” Liam and the guards were catching up with them. “Grace-chan, get out of the way!”

“My name isn’t Grace!” Katya’s face lifted, sobs racking her body as she stood to her feet. “It’s Katya! Takimi Katya! I’m a Heart Pirate wanted by Doflamingo of the Warlords! And I won’t let you hurt these children!” She held up her knives and faced the guards, who were in shock. “So leave now, and maybe I’ll let you live, Liam-kun.”


	23. Snowfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya blows her cover. Law deals with the G-5 Marines.

“Run!” Katya shouted as her, Nami and Chopper raced with the children towards the exits, after going through an incredible horrifying room full of frozen corpses that Katya was glad she hadn’t encountered whilst she had been staying there. How many things were going on in this facility? she thought. Law and I were so focused on keeping cover and assessing the SAD factory part of it, that we didn’t think to look into the rest. Unless Law had and he didn’t tell her. 

“Why are you even here?!” Nami shouted at the brunette. 

“Get the children out now, ask questions later!” Katya scowled at the orange-haired woman as she ran. She led them towards the front door. 

The children weren’t exactly quiet as they ran down the stairs towards the exit. 

“Those frozen people were so scary!” Jess said with a sniffle. Katya was carrying her on her back, as she was one of the younger children that had less stamina. Mocha, Sind and the other giant children carried the babies. 

“I’ve had enough of this place!” Chopper shouted as he ran. 

“Look! A door! We can get out of here!” Nami said and pointed to it. How she was managing to run in heels, Katya did not know. Her own black knee high boots were beginning to rub against her feet as they ran. 

“We’re out!” Chopper kicked through the door and the icey wind hit Katya. Geez, it really was horrid on this island. She hadn’t considered the weather. The young children had no coats. It would be difficult to get them to safety on the Straw Hats’ ship. Katya was near the back and the children were cheering as they clambered to see the door. 

“We’re out of the building!” Sind exclaimed happily. “We can go home!”

“Clear a path, children!” A rumbling sound came from behind her and she turned to see Franky in a form that appeared to be a makeshift tank and singing about it. Katya pulled a face. This really wasn’t the time to be showing off. 

“One, two, three, SUPER!” All the children posed, including Jess on Katya’s back. Katya laughed lightly before she felt the overwhelming aura of annoyance come from the side of the door. Oh, she was so going to pay for this. 

“Hey, isn’t that that guy from Sabaody?” Chopper screamed. 

“Were you the one that imprisoned these kids? You scum!” Nami yelled right in Law’s face and Katya kicked her in the shins hard. 

“NO HE WASN’T!” She roared at the orange-haired woman. “Hey, Law” she grinned.

“GRACE-ya, care to explain yourself?” Law said coldly. 

“Just call me Katya again, I blew my cover the moment the Straw Hats arrived. Plus, all of Caesar’s minions were trying to hurt the children!”

“We can’t go this way! Hurry back inside!” Sanji shouted loudly. Katya craned her neck and noticed the Navy soldiers that were standing by the door. 

“What’s the Navy doing here?!” Nami and Katya both cried out and hustled the children back the way they came. 

“There’s a back door. Hurry!” Katya pointed in the direction of it and turned to Law, Jess still sat on her back. 

“I promise I had nothing to do with the Straw Hats being here. I’ll leave you to deal with the Navy.” She said firmly and ran along with the children. 

Law sighed in exasperation and pulled out Kikoku, facing Smoker with a sadistic smirk. 

“That blasted woman. I suppose I’ll have to heed her request.” 

He held up his sword and faced Smoker as the soldier drew his kairoseki staff. 

~

“Dammit, Law!” Katya said angrily as the consequences of Law switching the bodies of the Straw Hat Pirates became more apparent. They would be no help to the children if they couldn’t fight in their own bodies.

“HE DID THIS?!” The Straw Hats roared in unison. 

“Yeah, he’s not done it much before! Only on me and him to see if it worked!” She went rather scarlet at the memory. Being in Law’s body had felt exceptionally good, even if it was for a few minutes. Mostly because she felt tall and powerful. They’d considered seeing what if was like from the other’s perspective for longer, but they decided it would be a little too weird, even for their odd relationship. 

“What the heck is wrong with you?!” Nami roared in Franky’s body. The group were struggling to keep the children motivated and warm in the freezing snow. 

“What will we do? The children won’t last much longer.” Chopper said in Sanji’s body. 

“I’ve got them to huddle together for warmth, but it won’t last long. We need to get them somewhere safer, sooner rather than later.” Katya said. 

“A camera! I want a camera!” Sanji kept saying in Nami’s body. Katya turned to him and pulled out a knife. Nami also had a murderous expression on Franky’s face. 

“Stop perving on her body, or I’ll personally make sure that your own body is castrated!” 

“Put something on each of your heads!” The severed heads demanded. Sensing that the man somehow had a plan, Katya helped the others to collect rocks and balanced them on everyone’s head. Warm clothes appeared out of nowhere and covered the children, as well as the Straw Hats and Katya. 

“What a useful power...” Katya said, looking down at the boots and coat. “BUT WHY DIDN’T YOU USE THEM BEFORE?!” She screeched and punched the man, Kin’emon. 

Nami and Katya consistently attacked the man the moment he made a comment about concealing their breasts. Katya growled angrily. She wasn’t even a boob person, unlike the top heavy Nami. She had a good butt, and she preferred it that way to having endless back pain. 

“Piece of shit.” She spat out angrily. 

“Oi! There they are! Hey, guys!” A loud voice echoed through the mountainous area. 

“Luffy?!” Katya turned around with a wide smile. She ran towards him and the others riding on the back of what appeared to be a large man. His companions were sat next to him. 

She waved as the group got closer. “Luffy!”

“Ohhhhh, Katya! Long time no see!” 

Katya hugged Luffy tightly after he had taken a few minutes to mourn the loss of his ‘hind legs’ and the crew had caught up with where everyone had been.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Luffy! Did your training go well? How are the warriors?”

“Ah, they’re all great! They brought me from the island to Sabaody a few weeks ago!”

“Awesome!” Katya smiled. “I came to the New World with Shanks! The Red-Hair Pirates gave me a ride!” The two started bouncing around enthusiastically hugging and cheering, swapping stories faster than the rest of the crew could follow. 

“Oi, everyone!” Luffy said eventually, pulling her over to the rest of his crew. “This is Katya, she and Tra-guy looked after me after Marineford!”

“TRA-GUY?!” Katya burst out laughing hysterically. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Katya...” the skeleton Brook stepped forward. “I heard that name from a man I was working with in the last two years, Sancrin Garkin.”

“That bastard’s still alive?” Katya scowled. “He sold me to slavers.”

“Wait, that means...AAHHHH!!” Brook threw his head back and screamed. “You’re Silena Siren?!”

“Woah, THE Silena Siren?!” Nami gasped. “Brook loves your music!”

“Siren-san, please may I ask...”

“Hm?”

“What colour are your panties?”

“Black.” She replied immediately. “Why do you need to know?” 

“DON’T ANSWER HIM!” The Straw Hats shouted. 

“Thank you.” Brook said and sank down to the ground. “I can die happy. Ah, but I’m already dead!”

“I feel like I’ve seen you before.” Katya furrowed her brow. “A poster, perhaps. But not a wanted poster.”

“Ah, I was doing a world tour until recently. The Soul King Brook, at your service.”

Katya’s eyes widened and she broke out into a grin. “The Soul King! No way! I’d love to record with you!”

“It would be my pleasure, Siren-chan!” 

“We have more pressing concerns than this!” Nami in Franky’s body said angrily as Usopp adjusted the picture of Nami onto a sweatband to be worn around her head. Katya scowled. 

“Don’t suck the joy out of this just because you’re annoyed.”

“YOUR CAPTAIN DID THIS!”


	24. Complications And Implications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya talks with the Straw Hats. The children begin to display unusual behaviour.

Luffy was sat with Zoro by Brownbeard, who was tied up. Katya went to join them, huddling into her coat. She hated extreme weather. There was a reason she’d rarely left the indoors of the facility for weeks at a time. Cold did not agree with her. 

“Grace-chan, why are you here?” Brownbeard looked surprised as the woman approached the group. 

“Ah, it’s actually Katya. I’m here with Law.”

“Oh yeah, where’s the bear?” Luffy asked. 

“Bepo? He’s with the rest of the crew. Law and I are here alone.” 

“Quit it, you damn kids.” Brownbeard said angrily to the children that were tugging at his makeshift legs and tail. 

“What’s happened? Until recently, you weren’t willing to open your mouth, but now we can’t get you to shut up.” Zoro said bluntly to Brownbeard, who laughed. 

“It’s because you’re going to be dead soon. Law is going to come and save me. I hate all of your generation,” Brownbeard said gruffly to Luffy. “But Law is different.”

“He certainly is.” Katya said with a small smile. 

“It seems more likely that Trafalgar-san will come for her.” Robin said smoothly from behind them. “Or is that musky smell on you from someone else at this facility, Freckles-san?”

Katya whipped her head around. “How did you-?”

“Oi, did Tra-guy make you smell funny?” Luffy pulled at part of her coat to sniff her. “What a mean guy!”

“Not quite, Luffy.” Robin smirked. “It just implies certain things.”

Katya bit her lip and pulled the coat closer to her. 

“We’ve been working together in his quarters on strategy. Occasionally I fall asleep there. And you have to keep it to yourselves. There are powerful people who would use that implication against us. It’s not, we’re not...but if people thought we were, it could be bad.”

“So Tra-guy isn’t hurting you?” Luffy said suspiciously. 

“No, Luffy.” 

“Ah, good. Eh, what were you saying about my generation?” Luffy turned back to Brownbeard and the bearded man told them about how the island came to be. Most of it was information that Katya already knew. 

She sat down and hugged her legs close to her chest. The big problem for her now was how Law and her were supposed to enact their plan to bring down Doflamingo now their cover had been blown. 

“Grace, ah, I mean Katya onee-chan,” Jess said, crawling to her. “Are you tired?” 

“A little.” She admitted. 

“You always looked after us when we slept, so we can do the same for you!” The young girl said with determination. Katya nodded, too sleepy to argue, and huddled into her coat. It didn’t take long for her to drift off. 

~

“Katya-san! Wake up!”

“Five more minutes...” she murmured as she snuggled into her coat. 

“Katya onee-chan! It hurts!” Mocha cried. Katya sat up quickly and ran to her side. The young girl was crying and writhing around. 

“Mocha!”

“K-Katya onee-chan.” Jess said in a scared voice next to Katya and the Heart Pirates scooped the child up into her arms. 

“Mocha! Sind!” She looked around at all of the children collapsing to their knees and crying out. 

“Chopper-san! What is happening to them?” Katya felt Mocha’s forehead. The girl was burning up. 

“NHC-10. That’s what I found in the kids’ bodies.” Chopper said in Sanji’s body, facing Brownbeard. “There were only faint traces, but it’s a narcotic!”

“N-No.” Katya breathed. “How did it get into their systems?”

“C-Candy!” Sind was crying. “I want candy!”

Katya began to shake. “It was in the candies? B-but they had them every day!”

“No wonder they’re suffering!” Nami-Franky said. 

“I-I gave them the candy. I was told it was medicine.” Katya said and put Jess gently on the ground. “I gave them the drugs....”

She felt bile rise up in her throat and she dashed away to the side of the cavern and threw up, tears mixing in with the vomit. She retched for a few moments. Robin put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed soothing circles into her back. 

“Chopper what do we do?!” Luffy shouted. “They’re all collapsing!”

Katya shakily wiped her face and Robin offered her a tissue. “I did this.”

“You didn’t know, Freckles-san. This is not your fault.”

“I should have seen...I should have known...” Katya cried out, looking at Sind, Mocha and the others in pain all around her. 

“Katya onee-chan, we need the candy!” Sind wailed. 

“You can’t, Sind! It’s bad for you! It’s hurting you!”

Sind cried some more and began to act strangely, as did lots of the children around them. 

“AGGHHHH!” Sind shouted angrily. “GIVE ME THE CANDY!” The large child punched the wall next to Luffy and began raging angrily. 

Katya wiped her face more and picked up Jess again. 

“Sind is scaring me! Make it stop Katya onee-chan!” Jess began to cry. She was six years old and had been fed drugs, along with all the other children. Katya’s heart began to break. How could anyone do such a horrific thing? The people at the facility had USED her too, to drug the children. She gripped Jess’ coat tightly. 

“It’s going to be okay, Jess-chan.” She said soothingly, and a few of the other young children gathered around her as the Straw Hats attempted to knock out the rampaging children. 

Usopp’s ‘Knockout Star’ worked a treat. Katya had gently placed Jess down and gotten out of the way as the star had hit them and they had all fallen asleep. Katya knelt down and smoothed the hair away from the young child’s head. 

“I’m going to kill him.” She said darkly, looking up with a furious expression. 

“You would betray the Master?” Brownbeard yelled at her. 

“Of course I fucking would!” Katya screamed back. “He drugged children! Innocents!” 

“How do we know if you weren’t in on it?” Brownbeard said accusingly. 

“Shut up! Katya would never hurt someone like that!” Luffy shouted at him. 

Katya sat in the corner, her knees held close to her chest. Her gaze was kept on the sleeping children. She was stroking one of the children closest to her’s forehead and singing softly to the children. There were tears in her eyes and her voice was shaky. 

“It’s going to be okay, Katya.” Luffy said. “I promise.”


	25. Like Friends, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law meets the Straw Hats. An alliance is proposed.

Katya hated the Yeti Cool Brothers. They were loud and brutal. She hadn’t been much use when they attacked, as she was desperately trying to keep the children safe. She only had one knife with her. She had managed to embed it in Scotch, one of the Yeti Cool Brothers’ foot, but she had been kicked into a wall. Chopper had offered to treat her, but she waited until the others were done. 

A loud crash occurred outside briefly as she helped Chopper. Law had taught her a few medical things, after all. All members of the Heart Pirates were required to learn first aid, and Katya had missed the lessons, so Law gave her a few when she visited him at night. Although, they spent more time flirting than actually getting things done. The crash was loud indeed. Luffy must have attacked the Yeti Cool Brothers, as they hadn’t come back. 

“Is that okay, Katya-san?” Chopper asked as he secured a bandage around her upper arm, which had been cut by some ice. 

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled. “You’re a good doctor, like my Captain.”

“Shut up you bitch! Complimenting me won’t make me happy!” The body of Sanji wiggled around happily and Katya giggled. 

“I’m back!” Luffy rushed into the cave happily. 

“Luffy!” The Straw Hats cheered, but they sweatdropped at who was behind him. 

“Law!” Katya got to her feet, but winced when she moved her arm.

“Katya-ya, are you alright?” He said in concern.

“I’m okay. It’s just a cut. But Law, the kids! Caesar is drugging them!”

“He just told me.” The man growled angrily. 

Her face scrunched as if she was about to cry. “I gave them those drugs unwittingly for months.” She said with a hiccupped sob. Law put his hand on her good arm gently. 

“Don’t blame yourself. Ah, I believe this is yours.” He let her go and held up her knife that she had left in the foot of Scotch. “I know how precious you get about them.”

“Thank you!” She took it happily and gave him a small smile.

“Guys! I have news!” Luffy said cheerfully. “We’re going to be in an alliance with the Heart Pirates!”

The Straw Hats screamed in shock. Katya looked up at Law, who nodded in confirmation. 

“You were going to tell me this when?” She pouted. 

“It was an idea from this afternoon.” Law replied casually. 

“You just went to get Nami back, so how did it come to such a crazy deal?!” Usopp shook Luffy. “I won’t be able to sleep at night if we form an alliance with such an enigmatic, unpredictable bastard!” 

“You-“ Katya gritted her teeth and stepped forward, but Law tugged her sleeve to hold her back. 

“Katya-ya, as much as you rushing to defend me is incredibly gratifying, now is not the time.” He whispered to her. 

Katya sighed and looked down at Law’s other hand. “Dear god, did you kill Chopper?!”

“No, I found him like this.” Law gave Chopper’s body to the real Chopper, who frantically began to treat it. 

“Luffy,” Robin said next to them. “I’ll follow your decision, but you should know that pirate alliances are often marked with betrayal. They may not be suited for someone as overly trusting as you.”

“Eh?” Luffy turned to the two. “You gonna betray me?”

“No.” The both replied instantly and Luffy put his hands on his hips and grinned. 

“BE MORE SKEPTICAL!” Usopp screamed and Katya began to finally smile again.

“I think a pirate alliance sounds fun! Besides, Tra-guy is a good guy, and Katya has cool stories and songs, but even if they aren’t good, there’s no need to worry! You guys have trained a lot in the past two years and can back me up! Hahahaha!”

The Straw Hats immediately began to be embarrassed and cheery as Luffy showered them with compliments. Law looked positively done with the entire situation. 

“Hey, Tra-guy~” Katya grinned. “You doing okay?”

“Never ever call me that ever again.”

~

“I wanna save the kids.” Luffy declared as he looked over the sleeping children. 

“They’re so much trouble.” Law said. “Leave them. The drugs in their system won’t give them long anyway.”

“Law!” Katya cried. “How can you say that?!” 

“How could we possibly transport them away? Who would look after them? How would the drugs even come out?” Law replied. Katya didn’t have an answer for any of them. 

“You’re the best doctor I’ve ever met. Surely you can do something?” 

She looked down at Jess sadly, who was curled up with Mocha. Law gazed at her with an unreadable expression. 

“You really want to save them?” Law said. 

“Of course.” Katya said quietly. “I’m their onee-chan. I won’t let them down. Please....” she looked up at him “Captain.”

Law knew she was serious. She had never called him ‘Captain’ to his face before. 

“Fine.” 

“Oh, and Sanji went to put the samurai back together!” Luffy was saying cheerily. “If you’re going to be allied with us, then you gotta help out!” 

Katya looked at Luffy with a slight smirk, before looking back at Law’s horrified face. 

“Pffffffthahahahaha!” She burst out laughing, her solemn mood gone in an instant. 

“Geez, I knew you had no idea what was going on.” Usopp said. “The alliance he asked you to form only means that we’re working together for the sole purpose of achieving a certain objective, right?”

“Naturally.” Law replied, and raised an eyebrow as Katya continued to laugh. 

“That’s what you meant, but when Luffy hears the word alliance, he thinks of something else.”

“Like friends, right?” Luffy said and grinned happily at Katya. The freckled woman gave him a high five. 

“If you thought you could get him to follow some plan, that isn’t gonna happen.” Usopp continued. “Once he gets some wild idea, he won’t budge. That’s the problem with Luffy. He’s always like this. In terms of self-centred stubbornness, he’s on par with the Yonkou.”

“I know someone like that.” Law muttered and looked across at Katya, who was laughing at Luffy flicking a booger onto Chopper’s face. 

“It’s like there’s two of them.” Usopp sweatdropped. 

“We don’t have time to argue.” Law said bluntly. “You can take care of the samurai yourselves. I’ll investigate the drug that was administered to the children. Which one of you is the doctor? I’ll need them with me to distract Caesar.”

“It’s Chopper-san.” Katya gestured to the reindeer covered in bandages on the floor. “Which could present an issue.”

Usopp thought for a moment before pulling some rope out of his pocket and attached Chopper to Law’s head. 

“Okay, this should do it.”

“Sorry,” Chopper said. “I can’t move right now, so I’ll have to rely on you.”

Law’s face was comedy gold. Luffy half collapsed laughing. “Don’t drop him Tra-guy!”

“Superrrr cute!” Franky grinned. 

“He looks ridiculous.” Katya bit back a laugh. “I’ll carry Chopper-san.”

“Katya-ya.” Law said in warning. “This is dangerous, facing Caesar.” 

“He knows I’m a traitor by now. Who cares? I told the crew I wouldn’t let you do anything stupid alone. Besides, where else would you put Chopper so you could fight?”

“I was going to tie him to Kikoku.” Law said without an ounce of remorse.


	26. Vergo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hats storm Punk Hazard. Katya and Law encounter a new enemy.

“Please, take care of the children.” Katya said to Nami as her, Chopper and Law prepared to leave. The woman had been harsh to her, but she cared about the children. Chopper was nestled in Katya’s good arm. She could see why the children had thought that he was a stuffed toy. He was incredibly soft and she tickled his head. 

“The main experiment room will have Caesar-ya and a woman in it.” Law explained to Chopper as they walked. “I’ll get them out of there. When that happens, take Katya-ya and investigate the drugs.”

“But you’re strong. You could easily get close to this Master. Why don’t you capture him yourself?”

Katya looked at Chopper. “We have our reasons.” The sounds of G-5 battling in the background could be heard. 

“Looks like it’s getting rough down there...” she said to Law. 

“What is that?!” One of the men suddenly cried. 

Luffy, with Franky and Robin in tow, crashed into the front door with a huge ‘BOOM’! 

“WHAT IS HE PLAYING AT?”

“Master, get out here!” Luffy shouted loudly. “I’m going to kick your ass and kidnap you!” 

“Go Luffy!” Chopper wiggled in Katya’s arms.

“That idiot!” Law said angrily. “Who told him to take on the whole Navy?”

“At least they’ll be distracted?” Katya offered as a silver lining. 

Law growled and Katya wondered what his blood pressure reading would currently be. 

“Law, I know you like to plan, but life is rarely like that. Without spontaneity and chaos, nothing exciting usually happens.” Katya said. “Meeting me again wouldn’t have happened if everything had gone to plan, would it?”

“No.” 

“Luffy is chaotic, but I think that everything will work out in the end.” She smiled at him encouragingly. “Besides, don’t the Straw Hats remind you of our crew? They’re just as goofy and silly. Just in a more destructive way.” 

Law sighed and Katya put a hand on his shoulder. “Besides, when this is over, I-“

Another explosion cut her off. 

“Okay! Let’s go inside!” Katya blurted out quickly. 

Law warped the group into the facility. They stopped off at Katya’s room in order to grab her knives at her request, and they were now strapped to her belt. 

“I can make us stealthier with my fruit?” Katya said as they walked down the corridor. 

“Use it to follow one of us if it’s needed.” Law advised. A few more minutes and they were outside the room. Chopper had been hidden in a bag hanging from Law’s nodachi, which Katya thought was rather awful for the reindeer. The brunette hid in a small alcove by the door as Law walked in. 

“If you’re looking for the Master, he’s not here.” Monet said without looking up. 

“Where is he?” Law asked calmly.

“Who knows. He’s pretty twisted, so he’s probably watching the battle outside.”

Law put down the bag with Chopper in on a large pink sofa that was in the room. 

“I’ve found everything that I’m going to find on this island, so I’ll be leaving soon.” 

“I see. It’ll be lonely without you.” Monet said, still writing away in her notebook. 

“I need to borrow your ability for a small task. Mind coming with me?”

Monet turned around and moved the glasses from her face. “Oh, a date? How lovely.” 

Katya grit her teeth but maintained her position. 

Law walked out of the room, gesturing Monet to follow. He went in the opposite direction to the alcove where Katya was. 

“Unsocial as ever, I see.” Monet chuckled. “What is it?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” Law said flatly. 

“Fair enough. I was bored anyway.” Monet flapped her wings and went to follow Law. 

Katya waited for a few moments before activating her Devil Fruit and following in the shadows. Monet’s wings and clawed feet would make her a difficult opponent should it come to it. Katya went from alcove to alcove, her ‘Calm’ ability making her not make a single sound as she walked or moved. 

~

They were a good way down the corridor when Law began to stumble. 

“Law?” Monet inquired. Law clutched his chest like he couldn’t breathe. 

“Who....is it?” He gasped out. 

“What’s wrong?” Monet asked and landed next to him. Katya quickly dived into another corridor before the bird woman could turn around to face Law. 

“It looks like you’re in pain.” Monet commented. 

Law spat out blood and he was on the verge of collapsing to the floor. 

“Who’s...there?”

Footsteps approached and a low male voice said simply “it’s me”. 

“What....are you...doing here?” Law gasped out. 

“How many years has it been?” The figure asked. “You’ve grown, Law.”

Katya clapped a hand over her mouth. Law was on his knees in front of Vergo. Law had told her about some of the people that they may face, and Vergo’s name had come up. However, she couldn’t take out both of the threats.

“Did you honestly think HE didn’t know what you were up to? Or that you brought the woman with the Calm Calm Fruit with you?” 

Katya readied her knives and came out of her hiding place. She threw her first knife at Monet, who screeched as it hit her leg. 

“Oh, this must be her. Takimi Katya.” Vergo said. He had what appeared to be a whole burger attached to his face like an awful after effect of a large meal. “Monet, deal with her. Joker wants her alive, though.”

Monet turned and slashed at Katya, who dodged swiftly. Her months of training were paying off in terms of the observation Haki, at the very least. She used her knives to strike the woman, but it went straight through her. Her Snow Snow Fruit, Katya cursed. The only way to hurt Monet would be through armament Haki, which Katya had never been good at. She focused and aimed at Monet’s wing, using her Haki as much as she could and threw. Not much of the blade worked was coated, but the tip was. It embedded itself in Monet’s wing and the woman screeched angrily. Before Katya could ready another, Monet had grabbed her and kicked the knives away from her hand. 

Monet jumped and used her claws to tear apart three large cuts into Katya’s belly before pulling her away down the corridor. Katya screamed in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. 

“Katya!” Law shouted. “You bastards!”

“If you try to keep secrets from adults, you will inevitably be caught, Law!” Vergo was saying. Monet laughed sadistically as Katya brought her hand up enough to slap the bird woman in the stomach. 

“Then....I’ll just have to....get rid of you!” Law grabbed Kikoku and prepared to strike. 

“Oh, and there’s one other thing.” Vergo said, and gripped a small cube in his hand. Law writhed in pain and Katya recognised that it was one of the cubes Law made when he used his Mes technique. But if Law was hurting...

“No!” She gasped in realisation. 

“You misspoke. It’s Vergo-SAN.” The man said, and hit Law in the head. Monet dragged Katya away from the two men as she struggled. Law’s heart was in Vergo’s hand, and there was nothing she could do. 

“LAWWWW!”


	27. The Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya finds herself at the mercy of Vergo. The poison gas weapon is launched.

When Katya came to, the first thing she was aware of was the large amount of pain coming from her abdomen. “I knew that sucking at armament Haki would come to bite me in the ass one day.” She muttered weakly. 

“Katya!” 

She looked up to see an odd variety of people. Vergo and Monet were staring at her from outside the large cage that they were trapped in. Law, Luffy, Robin, Franky, Smoker and Tashigi were all there with chains wrapped around them. 

“Law! Are you okay?” She asked immediately. 

“I’m alive.” He said. 

“Ah, young Katya awakens.” Vergo sipped his cup of tea. “Are you enjoying the kairoseki?”

Kairoseki? Katya thought. She felt fine. Had they mistaken these regular chains for kairoseki?

“Not really.” She replied grumpily. It was to her advantage to pretend they were real for now. 

Monet giggled. “I knew who you were from the very beginning. And my my, was it interesting to see what kind of person you were. You know it’s ever so naughty to sneak into your Captain’s room at night.” She smirked at Katya, who grit her teeth. 

“Ohh, Law.” Vergo said amusedly. “Did you finally get yourself a woman?”

“Suck a dick!” Katya spat at Vergo. “Though from the sounds of it, you already seem to be sucking Doflamingo’ as fair bit!”

Monet’s temper flared. “How dare you-“

“You need to get laid too, you harpy bitch!” Katya continued. “You flirting with Law earlier reeked of desperation. Maybe go find Doflamingo and have a nice orgy while you have the chance, before we all kill you!”

The room was silent for a moment before Vergo began to laugh. “This one is feisty. Maybe I’ll ask Doffy to spare her for a little while. That level of fierceness would be excellent to break.” He walked over to the cage and crouched down by Katya. 

“I bet that mouth of hers would be fun to play with.” The man said with a sadistic smile on his face. “Maybe I’ll see if I can make her scream more than you, Law.”

Law growled angrily and struggled against his chains. “Don’t you touch her!”

Katya glared back at Vergo. Her blue eyes met the reflection of his sunglasses and they stared at each other for a moment before Vergo stood up. “Doffy wants the Calm Calm Fruit, you see. When he found out that his traitorous brother had used it to work for the Marines, he was furious. But then he realised all the advantages of having someone on his side that can go places completely unnoticed. So you can either comply with him or you’ll die so the fruit can be reborn.”

“Not going to happen.” Katya said with venom in her voice. 

“Then death it is. Although..” Vergo smiled at Law menacingly. “I can see him having some fun with her body first.”

Luffy and Law were glowering at Vergo. If looks could kill, Vergo would have been dead ten times over. 

“No matter. The rest of you will be dead shortly.” Vergo said, and nodded to some guards that had entered the room. “Bring her to the ship ready to depart for Dressrosa.”

“No!” Law struggled and Katya pulled against her chains to wriggle towards him. She leaned against him and whispered quickly “chains”. Law’s eyes widened. Katya’s chains were also some of the fake ones that he had swapped out for the real kairoseki.

The guards grabbed her arms and pulled her away as Luffy protested loudly. Law grit his teeth. She had to escape quickly. Or her mouth would really be the end of her this time.

~

The guards were easy enough for Katya to defeat once she freed her chains. They had hesitated for a second when they were leading her away. One of them was a man she had become friends with on the island, Jared. She had retrieved her knives and told him to leave. He too had not known about the effect of the candy on the children, being of low rank. She would let him live. She tied him up using the chains she had been in and shut him in a cupboard. The other guards were not so lucky. They were unconscious on the ground. 

She saw the broadcast being made and rushed to the front of the facility as quickly as she could. She had faith that Law and the others would escape, but the poison gas would be there quickly. 

“Calm.” She uttered, and ran towards the lever that opened the gate. She could hear guards from before looking around, but she hid carefully and used her observation Haki to avoid them. This is what she excelled at other than singing. Fighting was a backup. Her skills lay in espionage. 

She heard banging on the gate, which she presumed was the G-5 marines. She didn’t want to let them in, but she had no choice. If she didn’t open the gate, Law, Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats would be trapped outside. 

She pulled on the lever and the gate began to open slowly. 

“Why is the gate opening?!” One of the men shouted. Katya ducked to avoid them seeing her by the ledge. 

“O-Over there!” One of the others yelled. Law’s group had escaped the cage and were standing in the doorway. 

“Great, now everyone can get in!” Tashigi said. 

“You’re welcome!” Katya called down and grinned at them. 

“ROOM.” Law said quickly. “Shambles!”

Law immediately appeared in front of her by the lever. 

“You’re bleeding.” He noted worriedly, looking at her stomach. 

“Yeah, that bitch Monet got a scratch in. It’s not too deep.” 

“Well done for getting away.” Law said quietly, before turning to the others. “Now then, what are we going to do about our hearts?”

Katya’s face darkened. “Ah, Law,” she growled. “About that.”

The surrounding people gasped as she slapped Law across the face.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING TAKING OUT YOUR HEART?!” She roared at him. “Now I know why I didn’t see you much the last few weeks! Is it because you were worried I’d notice that you DIDN’T HAVE A HEARTBEAT?!”

“Basically.” Law said bluntly, pushing the lever to close the gate. 

“You absolute ba- mmph!” She was cut off as Law pulled her into a fierce kiss. 

“I won’t let any of them take you.” He murmured quietly. 

“Law...” Katya said breathlessly. 

The door to the facility exploded and the two were thrown backwards. Law warped them to the ground and the two watched as their only escape from the gas was destroyed by a large man with lizard-like legs and the remaining Straw Hats. 

“A conversation for later, it seems.”

Law and Katya separated themselves from everyone after a few minutes.   
“We have something we need to do!” Katya called to the others. Law just walked off without informing them, presumably to give them a taste of their own medicine. 

The two had made their way to the SAD manufacturing room. Its tall steel doors represented all the things that they hated about Punk Hazard. 

“It’ll be nice to get out of this wretched place.” Katya commented as they entered the manufacturing room. 

“Definitely.” Law said as he opened the doors. 

“Emergency message to all towers in Laboratory Three!” A loud voice rang out over the comms system. “Trafalgar Law of the Shichibukai and Takimi Katya have broken into the SAD manufacturing room!”

Red lights flashed as the two entered the room. The huge container for the SAD stood in front of them. 

“Ready to stick the middle finger up to Joker and cause some chaos?” Katya grinned and Law returned her smile. 

“Let’s go, Katya-ya.”


	28. Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law and Katya get to work. The Straw Hats ready a tram for escaping.

“I guess this is what you call ‘biting the hand that feeds you’.” The cold voice of Vergo came from behind the two Heart Pirates. 

“This guy again.” Katya hissed, but Law put his arm out to stop her going forward. 

“Katya-ya, leave him to me. You know what to do.” Law said. 

The brunette nodded and rushed off to the side to where the vats were. They’d made contingency plans in case they were caught. Law would deal with the threat, whilst she destroyed the plans and equipment as best she could. 

“It would be easy to kill you by squeezing your heart, but I won’t do that.” Vergo said to Law. “It’ll be satisfying to take my time and torment you. You won’t die before I make you watch. I will rip that woman apart. I will use her body and then I will kill her slowly right in front of your eyes. You’ll watch her fade right in front of you!”

“I won’t let you hurt her.” Law growled. 

“Is this love, Law?” Vergo said mockingly. “Or did the memory of HIM want you to be around the person with his fruit? The Young Master will get it back. Now, I’m going to fix that cocky little face of yours. I’ll make you remember what fear tastes like. Just like before.”

The two men rushed towards each other and clashed in battle.

Katya worked as quickly as she could when she went down the stairs. She set alight all the papers she could. Her knives slashed the lines to the chemicals and threw her more damaged knives into tanks. The freckled woman hated to see them be destroyed, but it was necessary.

She could hear some horrified screams coming from Law and tried to focus on her task. She couldn’t cast ‘Silent’ and block the sound out or she could miss the sound of someone approaching. She wiped away a tear and continued. She was pushing some buttons on a machine when something flew down and landed by her. 

Law’s hat. She scooped it up and tucked it under her arm for safekeeping. She looked up to see Law as well as Smoker from the Marines fighting Vergo. Katya kept going, destroying vials of fluid and letting the tanks leak. All but the large tank remained. 

Katya ran up back to the higher deck. Law was lying on the ground badly hurt. Smoker was facing Vergo across the room. Vergo had just punched him into the ground. Smoker’s kairoseki staff was broken into two on the ground. 

“You may want to punish me for dishonouring the Navy, but you lack the skill, Smoker.” Vergo looked down at Smoker’s battered form on the ground. “Bravery alone will not protect your subordinates. It’s over.”

“Go to hell!” Katya stood in front of the two and threw her knife at Vergo’s head. The man speedily dodged out of the way as if it was easy.

“Your Haki needs work, girl. You missed by a mile.”

Katya grinned. “I wasn’t trying to hit you. I was trying to distract you.”

Vergo turned around to see Law putting his heart back in his chest. 

“Thanks for returning it, Smoker. Katya-ya, is it done?” Law said as he faced Vergo square on. 

“All but the big one.” She smirked and took Law’s hat from under her arm, placing it gently onto the taller man’s head. “You dropped this, Captain.”

It could have been seconds. It could have been minutes. All Katya could focus on was the fact that Law had cut clean through the entire laboratory as he sliced through Vergo. 

“It’s been two years since the Great War. Who set what in motion back then? All you did was protect your position.” Law said to the Den Den Mushi with Doflamingo’s face. “All Whitebeard did was end an era. Navy HQ has made a new military force, but the major players haven’t made a move. It’s as if they’re preparing for something.”

Katya stood next to Law and stared down at the snail determinedly. 

“That was war nothing but a prologue. You always said that an unstoppable wave is coming. One that brings a new age for the strong.” Law smiled triumphantly. “I’ve destroyed the gears. Now there’s no turning back!”

Katya grinned. “If I were you, I’d start panicking.” She leaned forward and picked up the receiver. “Joker, I heard you wanted me and my fruit. Well, you get your wish.” She looked to Law and smiled wryly as she spoke to the frowning snail face. “We’re coming to you, you piece of shit. Have a wonderful day.” 

She slammed down the receiver. 

“Fancy getting off this awful island?” Katya said to Law and put her arm through his, flipping off the angry Vergo as the two walked away with Smoker following close behind. 

“Katya-ya, I’m not going to lie here...” Law looked shocked. “I don’t think you have ever done something more attractive.”

~

“Is this really necessary?” Smoker grunted as him, Katya and Law dragged a huge tram between them down the corridor from buildings D to R. 

“Yes, it’s the tram they use to transport the SAD. Everyone can use it to ride out. The lab won’t last much longer.” Law replied. “We have to escape as quickly as we can.”

Katya pulled the tram with them but the claw marks Monet had given her were beginning to deepen from the stress of moving her body around so much. 

“Straw Hat!” Law called and Katya spotted him and a large group up ahead. 

“Oi! Tra-guy, Katya, Smokey! There you are!”

“Everyone!” Katya suddenly screamed and ran forwards. The children gasped and rushed to greet her. She hugged the ones she could, including Jess. “Wait, where’s Mocha?”

“She ate all the candies, onee-chan!” Jess cried. 

“No...” Katya said in shock and Sind nodded with tears in his eyes. 

“Everyone, get into the tram!” Law ordered and Katya helped the children climb in. The larger ones helped to lift the babies in and Katya lifted many of the younger ones who were exhausted. Jess was one of them, and the shy girl was shaking. Katya held onto her as Nami and the other children made sure everyone was inside the tram. 

“Onee-chan, can you sing for us?” One of the older children whispered. “The others are scared.”

Katya placed her hand on the young boy’s arm who had asked and the other children crowded to her. 

“There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard...” she sang softly. “No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart...”

Jess climbed up to sit in Kayta’s lap. “Our dreams, and they are made out of real things, like a shoe box of photographs with sepia-toned loving....”

Jess smiled shyly at Katya and she stroked the girl’s head comfortingly. “Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart...Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard? It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving....but I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together...” she sang gently. 

“Mm, it’s always better when we’re together....” 

Katya saw Law looking up at her with an unreadable expression. She turned back to the children and gave them a group hug. The children were going to get out of there safely. Or she would die trying.


	29. The Tram

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group attempt to escape Punk Hazard. Katya’s wound from Monet catches up to her.

The matter of capturing Caesar was still pressing, but the building was coming down thanks to Law cutting the whole facility in half and that was definitely the more immediate threat. Chunks of rock were falling as Katya made her way over to Nami. 

“Are you okay?” She asked the orange haired woman. 

“Yes, I’m just anxious to get the kids out of here.”

“Me too. They like you.” Katya smiled. “And your personality...you remind me of Ikkaku. She’s the only other woman on our crew.”

“You have another woman in your crew?”

“Yeah, it’s the two of us. Plus seventeen guys, one male bear and Law.” 

“It’s tough when there’s only two women, right?” Nami sighed. “Trying to keep Luffy in line is hard enough, but those idiots are a nightmare to handle.”

“You’re not their mother.”

“It feels like I am.” Nami muttered.

“If we let Caesar escape, the entire plan will be ruined.” Law’s voice cut through the women’s conversation. 

“What are you talking about? We’re not all here yet!” Luffy shouted from down on the ground. “Several of my nakama haven’t arrived!”

“Mocha isn’t here either!” 

Katya made her way to Law and stood with him as they waited. The Captain of the Heart Pirates looked tired. Katya put her hand on his wrist and felt the heartbeat there, reminding herself that he was alive. They were both alive, and they were going to see their crew again. 

“Why are they like this?” Law muttered.

“They fight for what they love.” Katya said thoughtfully. “They fight for their friends and they fight to be free. They just happen to save people on the way.”

Law looked across at the freckled woman with surprise at her insight into the Straw Hats. Even so, if they didn’t leave soon....

“LUFFY!” A voice rang out as the doors were closing and Katya spotted Chopper and Brook. Mocha was being carried by a number of men and she appeared to be unconscious. 

“Mocha!” The children shouted. Katya went to jump down to go to the young girl, but Law held her back. 

“There’s not enough time, we need to leave now!”

“This place is gonna blow! Everyone get on!” Luffy cheered and the group rushed to get on the tram. 

“I didn’t want the o-others eating the candy.” Mocha coughed as the tram sped along. Katya and Chopper both sat with her. There were traces of blood splattered around the girl’s mouth. 

Katya felt tears come to her eyes. “Chopper-san, will she recover?”

“I’m doing my best.” He replied gravely. 

“Watch out!” The Heart Pirate cried as she felt a large chunk of debris about to fall with her above them observation Haki. 

Whooosh!

The concrete was kicked out of the way by the blonde Straw Hat, Sanji. 

“Are you alright, my lady?” He asked as Katya watched the concrete crash down onto the tunnel behind them. 

“Yes, thank you.” She replied with a smile. 

“Any time!” Sanji swooned. “But I have to ask, how did you feel it coming down too?”

“Ah, I have good observation Haki. My armament Haki is terrible though, so I wouldn’t have gotten to it in time. Thank you.” Katya smiled warmly. 

“SO BEAUTIFUL!” Sanji shouted with hearts in his eyes and grabbed hold of Katya’s hands. Katya blushed slightly. 

“Oi, Sanji!” Luffy said cheerfully. “Look!” He pointed to Law, who was glaring daggers at Sanji. 

“What do you want, bastard?” Sanji growled at him. 

“Get your hands away from her, or I will cut them off right now.” Law’s eyes narrowed and put his hands on his nodachi. 

“It’s okay, Law.” Katya smiled at her Captain and let go of Sanji’s hands. “Sanji-san was just being friendly!”

Law put his sword back on his shoulder but still glared at Sanji. 

“What’s his problem?” Sanji muttered and took a drag of his cigarette.

“Vergo made some threats against me earlier. I guess Law doesn’t want anyone touching me that he distrusts.” 

“Katya, come sit at the front with us!” Luffy’s arms stretched towards Katya and grabbed her by the torso, pulling her against the pirate.

“STRAW HAT!” Law gritted his teeth. 

“Ow...” Katya untangled herself from Luffy.

Drip! 

A single drop of blood fell to the ground. The trio of pirates glanced down. Katya’s green coat had a small red stain spreading across it. The wounds from Monet...she’d ignored them all this time. 

“I think-“ Katya began, but then a humongous explosion rocked the entire island to the core as elsewhere in the facility, and caused the whole research building D to explode in a cloud of fire and gas. 

~

“Hang on, Katya.” Law murmured. “We’re outside.”

“I trust you.” Katya said weakly. Usopp was helping apply pressure to the wounds on her stomach as the tram rolled to a stop outside the facility. 

“You guys finally made it!” A voice said from above them. Franky in a huge armour was stood on top of the SAD transportation ship. “Super!” 

The children cheered and looked at him in awe. Katya, Tashigi, Robin and Nami just sighed. Men. 

“Buffalo...Baby 5!” Law cried seeing the two people that were blocking their way. 

“Law?!” The young woman on the ground said. “Are you really going against Joker?!”

“You traitor!” Buffalo said angrily. “Joker was saving the Seat of Hearts for you!”

“That belonged to one man alone!” Katya said to the two angrily. “As if Law would try to take his place!”

“Takimi Katya!” The large man exclaimed. 

“They’re the enemy!” Law said to Luffy and the two executives leapt into the air with Caesar. Katya watched as Nami electrocuted the escaping trio and Usopp fired rubble at them. Caesar had kairoseki wrapped around him and he began to plummet towards the ocean. 

“We did it.” Katya said to Law with a pained grin. “I need to check on the kids!” She declared, but when she tried to sit up, she gasped in pain. Law said nothing, but picked her up bridal style and carried her down from the tram. 

“But-“

“Katya-ya, for once in your life, be quiet and let me look after you.” Law looked down at her and she felt her heart flutter. “You destroyed the manufacturing room perfectly as we planned, so stop trying to do more. Now, let me do my job as your Captain.”

“I really have the best doctor in the world.” Katya rested her head against his chest and let him carry her away.


	30. Looking At Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law has a discussion with Smoker. The children meet the Navy.

“It’s okay, Sind.” Katya said soothingly as the young boy floated in pieces around the small cave Law was using as an impromptu medical hub. “He needs to take the poison out of you. This is the best and quickest way to do so.” She beamed. “It’s part of his powers. You’re in the best hands!”

“His hands say ‘DEATH’ on them!” Jess pointed out. 

“Eh, that part’s for the aesthetic.”

“Get out here, Law!” Chopper screamed from the doorway. The reindeer had run in a moment ago when Law had been cutting Sind in pieces. “You! What were you doing to the children?! If anything has happened to them then I-“

“It’s okay, Chopper-san!” Katya called. 

“That’s why I told you not to look in here.” Law said in annoyance. “I was just slicing them up.”

“Ahhhhh!!” Chopper screeched and ran inside to where Katya was. 

“They’ve been fed narcotics. Their recovery will be long and hard. There’s no way around that. But I did what I could.”

The children smiled at Chopper as he entered. Katya shook her head with a grin. Law must be feeling better if he was saying dark things to scare the small doctor. 

Katya was lying on the floor with her coat under her as a makeshift pillow. Her stomach was wrapped in bandages and she looked exhausted. She had refused to let Law do anything more than basic bandages and sterilisation as he had been exhausting his powers the whole day in the fight with Vergo and beyond. 

“Hello.” A voice came from the door. Tashigi walked in holding a notepad. Her glasses were broken. Katya eyed her skeptically. 

“Children.” Tashigi said with a smile. “From now on, the Navy will take care of you.”

“No way!” The children all cried. Katya tried to get to her feet but winced. Law gave her a warning look and she laid back down. 

“This whole thing is the Navy’s fault!” Katya protested angrily to Tashigi. 

“Please, Katya-san, I want to return them to their families!”

“You mean....we’ll see Momma and Daddy?” Jess said after a short moment. The young girl took Katya’s hand. “I don’t want to leave onee-chan....but I want to go home!” 

“Jess...” Katya welled up. 

“She’s right.” Ally said. “Onee-chan, you’ve looked after us all this time. But we need to go home.”

“I’m going to have them treated by Vegapunk and returned to their families.” Tashigi bowed to Katya. “I promise that I will take care of them and will not rest until they are safe!” 

Katya looked up at the group of children, who had tears in their eyes. 

“You’re the best big sister ever!” The children said in unison and Katya let out a sob as they rushed forward to her side. The kids began to hug her one by one as she cried. Law looked on with a small smile hidden under the brim of his hat. 

~

“Supper is ready!” Sanji called from outside, and the female Marine led the children out of the room. The group were all still booing at Tashigi and saying that the Marines were ‘pooey’. Katya was incredibly proud of them. 

“Help me up?” Katya asked Law, who obliged and helped her to her feet. 

“Oi, Straw Hat.” Law said seriously as they went outside, Katya leaning slightly on him for support. “We need to leave this place quickly. If we stay and eat, new enemies will arrive.”

“Really?” Luffy replied in surprise. 

“Tell everyone else.”

“Everyone!” Luffy said loudly. “New enemies are on the way! So hurry up....and party!” He raised his fist and the whole mismatched group of Marines, pirates and children roared in appreciation. 

“KANPAI!” 

“Hahahaha!” Katya laughed from beside Law as she watched Luffy put chopsticks into his nose and dance and dance around. It hurt her stomach, though, so she ended up making a whining noise when she did. 

“These idiots.” Law said in exasperation. 

“Mocha woke up!” Chopper called to the two Heart Pirates happily and came over with the girl. Chopper handed him a bowl of food. “Here!” 

“Thank you for everything, onee-chan!” Mocha said. 

“I’m just glad you’re feeling better.” Katya beamed as Mocha gave her a bowl of food herself.

“Sanji’s cooking is the best!” Chopper cried joyously as he tucked into his own food.

“Go and eat, Law. I’ll try to persuade Luffy to hurry up.” Katya squeezed Law’s arm and went to join the group. 

“She’s an interesting woman.” Smoker appeared by Law. 

“Aye, she is.” The man said back with a nod.

“It would be hard to not love a woman like her.” He said gruffly, inhaling one of his large cigars. 

Law took a sip of the bowl of broth. It wasn’t something him and Katya had ever said to each other. The last time someone had loved him, truly loved him, they had been murdered right before him by Doflamingo.

“Katya-ya is a member of my crew. Nothing more.”

“Bullshit. Do you know what I saw when we were in that blasted lab?”

Law did not reply. 

“Every time you looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention was like a hungry man looking at a meal, but starving himself because he thought it was the better course of action.”

Law lowered his hat over his eyes with an unreadable expression. 

“And she looked at you like that too. So do yourselves a favour and just tell her. Life on these seas is too short to not go after what you want.” Smoker stood up and walked away from the pirate. 

Law looked across at Katya grinning and grabbing a drink with the Straw Hats. He had kissed her at the lab, and they hadn’t talked about it at all yet. 

“Maybe.” He murmured as the Marine Vice-Admiral headed towards his subordinates. “Maybe one day.” 

But first, he had to ensure that Joker was taken down.


	31. Just As They Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group call Doflamingo. Law and Katya have some private time.

Katya waved tearily with Nami and Chopper as the children left, even though G-5 tried to block their view of them. 

“Keep singing!” She beamed at them as the ship sailed away from the island. 

“Thank you, KATYA ONEE-CHAN!” They shouted to her happily. Katya kept waving until the ship had disappeared beyond the horizon. 

“Law...” she pouted. 

“No.”

“You didn’t even know what I was going to say!”

“You’re not adopting a child or a pet for the sub.”

“Tch.” Katya scowled childishly.

“Don’t you dare think of tainting Katya-chwan!” Sanji went to kick Law, but he moved out of the way in time. 

“Bit late for that. That ship sailed years ago.” Katya snorted at the blonde man’s weird version of chivalry. Robin chuckled next to Sanji as the man fell to the group and wept, muttering about Law being a ‘filthy bastard’. 

The Thousand Sunny was a beautiful ship, Katya had to admit as the crew climbed aboard. 

“This grass is great!” Katya exclaimed and took off her shoes to put her bare feet on the Sunny’s deck. “What a cool idea!”

“Katya-chan, try a tangerine!” Nami shouted and threw her one of the ones from a large grove of trees that also were on the deck. 

“Thank you!” She called back and began to peel it, placing her bag on the deck by the mast. When the G-5 marines went back into the building to save their gas-affected nakama, Katya had briefly joined them and retrieved hers and Law’s belongings from their rooms. A few things had been unsalvageable, but she had gathered what she could. 

She took a bite happily as she went to stand next to Law, who was looking intently at a Den Den Mushi in his hands. 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain.” A deep voice could be heard coming from the snail. “You two were just following my orders.”

“What a surprise.” Law said into the receiver. “I didn’t expect the boss himself to show up.”

Katya went to gasp but Law gave her a warning look and she remained silent. 

“Is that Law?” The snail’s face twisted into Doflamingo’s. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. It’s a shame you’re not here.”

“It you’re looking for Caesar, he’s with me.”

“J-Joker! Help me!” Caesar screamed. Katya kicked the man, his Logia fruit neutralised by the kairoseki chains around him. 

“Shut up!” 

“Oh, that must be the woman who ate my dear traitor brother’s Devil Fruit. You were very rude to me when I was trying to talk to Vergo. How are you, Takimi Katya?”

“Better now I can beat the shit out of this bastard without Haki.” Katya growled. “How are you?”

“I can see why you like her, Law. Don’t think that the information about your little relationship hasn’t made its way back to me.”

“Why is everyone so obsessed with something that happened years ago? We’re not even together anymore!” Katya threw her hands into the air and continued to kick Caesar in annoyance. Law continued to talk to Doflamingo as Caesar cried out in pain. 

“Stop kicking me, you bitch!”

“I’ll kick you as much as I want! You don’t deserve to live after what you did to those children!” She roared at him. “If we didn’t need your dumb ass alive, I’d kill you myself!”

“Katya-ya.” Law said as he hung up on Doflamingo after his demands. “Please stop hurting Caesar. I don’t know a place on this ship where I could show my true level of appreciation of you doing that.” He smirked at her. “Besides, we need to talk.”

Katya bit her lip and smiled cheekily. “Ah, good point. Hey, Nami!” She called to the young woman and the navigator walked over. Katya kicked Caesar once more before turning to the orange haired woman. “Where’s a good place on board for Law and I to talk and not be disturbed?”

“Hm? I mean, the aquarium room is pretty good if you want some peace. Robin has her book collection in there. The door locks to most of the rooms on the ship due to, well, Luffy, so if you need to have a private talk, you can.”

“Actually, I would prefer to use your medical room.” Law said. “I need to sort out Katya’s bandages whilst we talk.”

“You can use it!” Chopper piped up. “It’s that door up there.”

“Thank you.”

~

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Katya sat down on the bed that was in the medical bay. Law reached for her top and gently pulled it off her, examining her bandages. 

“These need attending to.” He muttered. “ROOM. Scan.” He used his power and focused on her stomach.

He got to work stitching her stomach back together. It was quick work but Katya had the feeling that it would still scar. Bye bye bikini season, all thanks to that stupid harpy woman. 

“You said you wanted to talk, but you’ve hardly said a word.” Katya commented as he tied off the last of her stitches with expert precision. 

“It’s about what Vergo said.”

“Law.”

“It made me furious. The idea of someone violating you like that.”

“Hey, I’m okay.” Katya smiled reassuringly. “Well, mostly okay. My stomach has seen better days, but it’ll heal. See?” She ran her hand over it in demonstration. “Soon, it’ll be all muscles, like yours.”

She poked his t-shirt in the centre of his chest. “Although maybe not that muscley.” She blushed, realising what she was doing. 

“Law, can I ask you a question?”

He nodded silently. 

“Why did you kiss me?”

Katya stood up to face him and he looked away with a slight flush to his cheeks. She gently lifted her hand and lifted his chin so he was facing her. 

“Katya...you need to stop.”

“Why?” She murmured. 

“Because if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m likely to lock this door and take you right here right now against this wall.”

Katya arched an eyebrow at Law. “We both know you’ve wanted into my pants since before we left Amazon Lily.” 

“Katya-ya,” Law flipped the young woman against the wall and pinned her to it, not forcefully due to her injuries but enough to keep Katya still. “We are in the medical room of a ship that isn’t ours.” 

“There are worse places to be.”

“We could die on this mission.”

“So I guess it’s not a great time to figure out what’s happening here.”

“Absolutely not.” Law growled. 

The two stared at each other for a moment before both went in for a desperate kiss. Law’s hands released Katya’s wrists and she pulled him closer to her, deepening the kiss.

“Fuck, Katya-ya, you really will ruin me one day.” Law drew away for a moment. 

“I’d rather you ruin me.” Katya whispered. “Do you really think I haven’t forgiven you by now?”

Law’s gaze snapped up to Katya’s eyes, which were dilated and hooded. 

“This is such a bad idea.” His voice was low. 

“Do you really want to talk right now about all the reasons that we shouldn’t? Or do you want to touch me?”

Law paused for a moment, then put a hand behind him to click the lock of door to the medical room. A few silent achingly long seconds passed, and then they dived for each other. 

The two grabbed at each other desperately. Katya shoved away Law’s coat and immediately tried to yank his shirt off him. Law pulled the garment off and helped Katya remove the gown. She gasped and dove back down to kiss him, feeling his bare chest against hers. 

“Fuck.”

“Wait.” Katya suddenly said, and clicked her fingers. “Silent.”

Law smirked. “Good idea. We don’t exactly want that poor Straw Hat doctor to be traumatised by hearing us.” He traced his fingers down to Katya’s clit and she moaned softly. The noise was beyond satisfying and Law hummed appreciatively. 

“Who was the last person that touched you like this?” He growled. 

“You know who.” Katya said back, panting. 

“I’m going to make you forget he ever touched you.” Law began to kneel down towards the ground and Katya’s eyes widened. He wasn’t going to- oh, he was. 

Law’s tongue was soft and skilled against Katya’s most sensitive area. There was so much enthusiasm in every stroke that it was driving her mad. Her fingers found his hair and she let moans escape her mouth as he continued. 

“S-Shit, Law...” she gasped and began to feel her legs turn to jelly. A few moments more, waves of pleasure flooded over her and she cried out loudly. Her fruit was working still, thankfully, or someone would have come running. 

Law brought his head back up and Katya fumbled with his belt, feeling his arousal against her. 

“You see what you do to me, woman?” Law tugged at her lip with his teeth. 

“Please, Law..”

“What do you want, Katya-ya...?” He caught her wrists attempting to pull down his trousers. 

“Please, Law...you know what I want.”

“Say it.”

“I want you to make me come so hard I see stars. Like you used to.”

Law smirked and relented his hold on her and she pulled down his trousers, releasing his cock. 

“As you remember it, Katya-ya?”

“Mm.” she licked her lips. “Remind me.”

Law lifted her up and Katya’s back hit the wall with a gentle thump. His arms were strong and she could feel the muscles moving against her. Law kissed her deeply and then went for her neck, kissing and biting and grazing his teeth over every spot that made her beg for more. 

Those moans, Law thought, were the best music she could make. A symphony of pleasure. He used his power to quickly get a small square foil packet from the cabinet. Thank goodness the Straw Hats had thought of such things to have on the ship. Though he made a mental note to find out if any of the Straw Hats were together in case the alliance went sour. 

Katya kissed up his neck and by his ears as he tore off the wrapper and slid the condom onto himself. 

“Are you sure?” Law whispered.

“Yes.” Katya breathed out and moaned loudly as Law slid into her. 

“God.” 

“I don’t think he has much to do with this.” 

“Shut up, Law.”

Law growled and thrust up into her. The woman gasped and bucked her hips into him. 

“I-I get it, I’ll be quiet.” She said, her voice shaky. 

“On the contrary.” Law said as he held her up in his arms and then sank her back down onto him. “Scream for me, Katya-ya.” 

He set a rough and intense pace. Katya groaned loudly and ground down against him as much as she could. Law’s fingers dug deeper into where he was holding her ass up, and Katya’s nails were beginning to rake down Law’s back. The two looked at each other panting hard as Law kept thrusting into her. 

“L-Law.” Katya’s head threw back in pure ecstasy. 

“You’re mine, Katya-ya.”

“I always was.” Those three words were enough to send Law over the edge as he came hard. A few more frantic thrusts and Katya also came undone, half-screaming as she tensed and felt a shudder through her body. The two breathed hard, Law’s forehead resting against Katya’s neck. 

“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” Katya murmured, her breathing ragged. 

“You were still mad at me.”

“Feels like a dumb reason now.” She gasped as Law slid out of her and lowered her back to the ground. He took off the condom and put it in a bin near the medical bed. Katya took a step towards him but her legs felt weak and she began to slide downwards. Law caught her and scooped her up into his arms. 

“I really hope that you used your Devil Fruit throughout that, or the whole ship is going to have heard you screaming my name.”


	32. Sandwiches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law and Katya spend time together. Dressrosa plans are made.

The night passed calmly. It was warm outside and there was a gentle breeze. It was as if Katya had used her powers. There was little sound at all over the deck. After the two Heart Pirates had dressed themselves and gone back to the crew, they had slid themselves back into the schedule of discussing strategy and then having dinner. Robin had given Katya a calculating look from across the table, but that had been all. 

Law, unable to stand being asleep anywhere where he couldn’t immediately be alert for the arrival of the News Coo, had sat on the deck under the stars. Katya had joined him and retrieved some blankets and pillows from the girls’ room. 

After a while of dozing with his chin resting on his chest, Law realised it was too impractical to sleep upright against the mast. Katya had fallen asleep almost immediately. Her knives were lying on their belt next to her and she was sleeping soundly. 

‘It would be hard not to love a woman like her...I suggest you tell her that.’ Smoker’s voice echoed in Law’s head as he looked down at Katya. The freckles over her nose moved slightly as she twitched her nose in her sleep. 

Law laid down next to her, Kikoku by his side. He put an arm around her and she snuggled into his chest. She was so...good, Law thought. Katya was good in the way that she always wanted to help everyone. She was passionate in everything she did, whether it was being with the crew, fighting, making love or singing. The brunette put her heart and soul into everything she did. How could he possibly be worthy of a woman like that? Especially after he’d already royally screwed her up once. 

Thoughts swirled around his head until he finally succumbed to sleep. By the time the morning came, Law and Katya were curled up next to each other under the blanket. Sanji wasn’t impressed when he found them like that in the morning, but had relented when he saw how Katya looked as she slept, which he declared to be goddess-like. 

The News Coo arrived shortly after dawn. Law had immediately woken Katya up and within a few minutes, the Straw Hats had also gathered around. Brook retrieved the paper and spread it out for them to read. Doflamingo had resigned from the Shichibukai just as Law had demanded.

The news of their alliance had spread to the papers. Katya folded open the paper to read it. 

“Wait...that’s Kid!” She pointed at the article. “Basil Hawkins, Eustass Kid and Scratchman Apoo form an alliance.”

“Hm.” Law mused. 

“Kid’s scars...” she grimaced. “Shanks-san must have really done a number on him.”

“He fought Shanks?” Luffy said with surprise. 

“Yes. I left just before they went at each other. Shanks-san wasn’t very happy with him because he’d called me a bitch a few minutes prior. I’m surprised he’s still alive.” Katya mused. 

“HOW MANY SCARY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW?!” Usopp screamed, which Katya ignored. 

“Forget about them.” Law said, standing up from where the group. “It’s time to call Doflamingo.”

~

The phone call went terribly. Luffy screamed down the phone for half of it and then fantasised about meat when Joker claimed there was something the young man wanted. Law had negotiated with Doflamingo and then put the receiver down. Katya elected to say nothing. The moment Luffy grabbed the receiver, she knew that it would go wrong. 

“Tra-guy, have you been to that island? Dressroba?”

“It’s ‘rosa’!” Law snapped back. “I’ve never been there. It’s that bastard’s kingdom.”

“Well then, let’s just figure everything out when we get there!” Luffy grinned. “It’s gonna be an adventure!”

“Ah, Luffy...” Katya said cautiously. 

“I wanna go to the Wano Kingdom soon, too!” The boy continued. 

“Don’t be ridiculous! We can’t just show up without a plan!” Law shouted. Luffy ignored him and ran past. 

“Oi, Sanji, I’m hungry! What do we have for breakfast?” Luffy ran up the stairs happily and Katya winced at the look on Law’s face. 

“Sandwiches.” Sanji replied. 

Five. 

“Oh no.” Katya’s eyes widened. “L-Law, calm down!” She said frantically as the man had a thousand yard stare at the kitchen. 

“Hm? Katya-chan?” Sanji turned around. 

Four. 

“I could have prevented this.” She looked at Sanji apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“I want a cotton candy sandwich!”

Three. 

“I’ll just have a cup of tea.”

“I’m gonna have cola!”

Two. 

“Yohohoho, a glass of milk for me!”

“I think the best breakfast in the world is Sanji-kun’s sandwiches.”

One.

Law snapped completely, and Katya winced at the knowledge of what was to come. 

“I DON’T LIKE BREAD!”

~

“I can’t tell you why we’re being chased. But we set sail for a place called Zou originally.” Kin’emon said with a mouthful of sandwich to the room. Law was tucking into his onigiri which Katya had begged Sanji to make in order to calm Law down. 

“Zou?” Katya’s eyes widened and she looked to Law. 

“Do you know it?” Kin’emon inquired. 

“After handing over Caesar and destroying the SMILE factory, we were going to head for Zou.” Law said. 

“Really?!”

“Our crew is there.” Katya said with a fond smile, thinking of Ikkaku’s laughter, Bepo’s fuzzy coat and Shachi and Penguin’s smiles. “I miss them.”

“What are they like?” Nami asked in curiosity. “You said there were about twenty of you.”

“They’re a great crew. They can all fight so well you could barely tell that they’re actually a bunch of goofy guys making their way in the world.” Katya grinned. “Bepo, the bear, he’s our navigator. Law’s known him a long time. Even longer than I have. Shachi and Penguin, too.”

“Why aren’t they here, then?” Brook asked curiously. 

“Law went to Punk Hazard alone. I was training, and since Doflamingo is after me, I figured that it was a task best done by two.”

Law rolled his eyes as Katya continued. 

“Besides, I could make sure no-one heard us sneaking around the facility.”

“Oh? Is that your Devil Fruit power, Katya-chan?” Robin said. 

“Yes. It’s the Calm Calm Fruit. I can make things soundproof or silent if I want to. It’s good for stealth.”

“It sounds like a cool power!” Luffy grinned. “Can I see?”

“It’s not very exciting.” She admitted. “Here.” She got up from the table and went to stand next to Luffy. 

“Okay, so right now you can hear everyone, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Silent.” Katya made a bubble around the two of them. “How about now?”

“Woah! I can’t hear them! Oiiiii, Zoro!” Luffy said loudly and waved enthusiastically at the confused man. 

“When people are in my bubble or touched by my power, they can’t hear anything outside the bubble. You can’t hear them, and at the same time, they can’t hear us. You could say anything to them and they wouldn’t hear.”

“Usopp is stupid!” Luffy said with a grin. Katya laughed at the bemused expressions of the people sat around the table and lowered the bubble. 

“What were you saying? We couldn’t hear a thing!” Chopper said, looking at the two with sparkling eyes. 

“I was explaining to Luffy that within the bubble, we cannot hear the outside world and they cannot hear us. I can also make myself completely silent when I wish. You can’t even hear my feet when I walk.”

“A useful power indeed.” Robin smiled. 

“It’ll come in handy when we get to Dressrosa, hopefully.” Katya said. “We’re going to take Doflamingo down!”

“Yeah!” The table cheered, aside from Law, who was silently eating his onigiri, and Robin, whose eyes were focused on the Heart Pirate captain with a knowing look as she sipped her cup of tea.


	33. Dressrosa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya and Law clash over plans for Dressrosa. Luffy makes decisions for them.

After Kin’emon told them about his mission and Luffy declared that they would help him, Katya went back out to the deck and sat with Nami, who showed her the tangerine trees. 

“I see an island!” Robin called from the lookout post after an hour or so. 

“We made it! It’s Dressrosa!” Luffy exclaimed triumphantly. 

“You idiot! Don’t shout! Doflamingo will hear us!” Usopp hissed at him. 

“No, he won’t.” Katya and Zoro said at the same time. 

“Use your powers, I don’t want to risk it!” Usopp cried and shook Katya by the arm as she giggled. 

As the ship pulled into an alcove to drop anchor, the group gathered together to discuss strategy. 

“When we get into the city, I’ll be sneaking into the factory and aiming to destroy it. I’m not a strong fighter. I can hold my own, and I have good Observation, but my armament Haki is not up to handling Doflamingo or his executives yet.” Katya told the crew. “I don’t plan to die here, so I’ll need help.”

“I’ll protect you, Katya-chwaaaaan!” Sanji ran up to her wiggling.

Nami hit the blonde man in the stomach with a large blue stick and he doubled over. Law looked approving of the woman’s actions. “Focus, Sanji-kun. So the plan is we go to the city after the exchange?”

“Yes. I want as few people on the exchange team as possible.” Law said. “Katya-ya, I want you to stay with the ship team when we go to Green Bit.”

“Law-“ Katya said in surprise. 

“I am not risking you being so close to Doflamingo.” He snapped. 

“I’ll heed your decision, CAPTAIN.” She said stiffly. 

Law ignored her outburst and continued to talk with the others. Katya walked off in the direction of Luffy, who was attacking Momonosuke for some unknown reason. 

“Hey, Katya, let’s go explore!” Luffy said and grabbed her round the waist, whilst Law discussed the Vivre Card with Nami. 

“Luffy, we can’t just g-“ 

“Hurry up, Zoro!” Luffy lifted Katya up off the ground. The young woman squeaked as he started to run with Katya under his arm towards the town, with Franky, Sanji, Zoro and Kin’emon in tow. 

“W-Wait!” Katya looked back at the direction they came in but her view was blocked as they went around a corner. 

~

“Luffy, I told you, it’s not safe for me here!” Katya hissed angrily when the young pirate captain eventually put her down as they entered Acacia, the port town. The toys running around were something to behold, but she was still incredibly nervous. 

“But you’ve got us with you! So let’s go look round! We’ll even have disguises!”

“Katya-san, I can make you an outfit.” Kin’emon said. “Maybe a very revealing one?”

“No way!” Katya scowled, before thinking for a moment. “Actually...” she fumbled through her bag and pulled out a picture of her purse of a picture she had taken of her, Shachi and Penguin on Amazon Lily. She had had a superhero style mask on as well as feathers on her eyelashes, with a black fitted suit, as she’d done an impromptu concert for the warriors and the crew. “Can you make me look like this?”

“Of course.”

Katya grabbed a leaf from the ground and put it on her head. 

POOF!

“SO BEAUTIFUL!!” Sanji swooned. 

“Wow!” Katya was impressed. “It even feels like the outfit. Thanks!”

The group wandered around and Katya had to begrudgingly admit that Dressrosa was a beautiful place. Despite the oddities of the toys and the women of the country apparently STABBING men that were unfaithful to them, by the time Katya got to the restaurant Luffy dragged them too, she was feeling a little less anxious. 

“Thanks for ordering for me, Sanji-san.” Katya smiled gratefully at the man, who had sensed her anxiety about being in a crowded place. 

“You’re quite welcome. I understand your worry, but none of us will let anything happen to you. Even the marimo has some uses.”

“Marimo?” Katya tilted her head in confusion. Sanji grinned and pointed at Zoro, who was giving the chef an annoyed look. Katya burst out into a fit of giggles. 

“Hey, Katya, you’re feeling better!” Luffy said happily. 

“A little.” She admitted. 

“Katya-chan, try this!” Sanji passed her a bowl of soup and she tucked in. It was delicious and she sighed with happiness. The blonde man practically radiated joy as she took a bite of the bread and giggled to herself. 

“Sorry I forgot to tell you about Law’s bread issues, Sanji-san.”

Sanji waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s no problem. Say, Katya-chan, where are you from originally? We’ve not really had much of a chance to get to know you.”

“I’m from the North Blue. Forhargo.”

“Really?” The man beamed. “I’m also from the North Blue, but I moved to the East Blue when I was young. That’s where I met this crazy lot.”

“You must have had some interesting adventures,” Katya looked across at Luffy “especially with him as Captain.”

“Luffy is a SUPER Captain!” Franky chipped in. “We’re never bored!”

“I can imagine. Sanji-san, can you pass me the salad please?”

“Of course, Katya-chwaaan!” 

Katya took the bowl from him gratefully, but found herself staring at his curly eyebrows. 

“Hm? Katya-chan, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just...you remind me of someone I saw once. He wasn’t as nice as you. Green hair, but had similar eyebrows. Dressed like some guy out of the Germa comics.” She laughed. “Passed by him in a port in North Blue shouting at some guy. Must have been a costume contest.”

Sanji had paled significantly. “Yeah, must have been.”

“Katya, are you worried about Tra-guy?” Luffy interrupted as he seemed to inhale the food he was eating. Katya turned to the Straw Hat captain and nodded. 

“Law is determined to take down Doflamingo. I fear what could happen if he goes too far.” She gripped her napkin. 

“It’ll be okay! We’re all friends, now, after all!” Luffy said with an encouraging grin. 

“I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be back in a moment.” Katya got to her feet and headed over to the bathrooms. It would give her a minute to calm down. 

There were loud crashes whilst Katya washed her hands, and she rolled her eyes. She assumed Luffy was causing a ruckus with his horrendous eating habits. She exited the bathroom and to her shock and horror, everything was covered in dust and Zoro and Kin’emon were arguing. 

“What the hell happened in the TWO MINUTES I left you alone?” Katya wailed. 

“An old blind man beat up some guys and fairies stole Zoro’s swords.” Luffy said. 

“Seriously?” Katya looked at Franky for confirmation.

“He’s not lying. They took your purse, too.”

Katya growled in annoyance. “I’m beginning to see why Law has such high blood pressure with you around. You attract trouble more than we do!”


	34. Katland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go awry in Dressrosa as the tournament begins. Katya meets some interesting new allies.

Katya had stayed with Franky and Luffy as they left the restaurant. Zoro, Sanji and Kin’emon had run off, which presented a problem, but now there was an even bigger issue. They had found out that the Mera Mera no Mi was the prize for the tournament that Doflamingo was holding. Portgas D. Ace’s Devil Fruit. 

“It’s obviously a trap, Luffy.” Katya said as they stood outside the huge colosseum. A toy soldier had just been chased away by a bunch of mean looking goons. “But I know how much Ace means to you, so we’ll do what I can to buy you time. Enter and win. I’ll stay with Franky-san and we’ll look to get information on the location of the factory.” 

“Thanks, Katya!”

“Go kick their asses, Luffy.”

“Count on me!” Luffy grinned at the two of them and left to enter the colosseum. 

“Franky-san.” Katya said thoughtfully. 

“Just Franky, please.”

“Then call me Katya, too.” She smiled, then said more seriously “Franky, that toy soldier from back there, he seemed to know a lot about the state of the town. He’s probably a local. He might know where the factory is!” 

“Super good thinking, Katya!” Franky nodded and they walked over to the toy soldier, who had moved away from the guards and was now stood by the noticeboard. 

“Excuse me?” Katya said politely. 

“Ah! Young lady! What do you want?”

“We’re sorry to bother you, but were you born...or should I say made...in this country?”

“Of course! I was born and raised here. I’m a pure Dressrosan!”

Katya grinned up at Franky and the cyborg walked forward. 

“Can we ask you something? Do you know if any of the big guns of the Donquixote Family are here today?” Franky inquired. 

“W-Why do you want to know such a thing?!” The toy exclaimed. It didn’t have much facial expression, but the voice said volumes about its state of shock. 

“We can’t tell you why.” Franky said and leaned down to look at the soldier menacingly. “Alright, then do you know something about the factory?”

“The factory?!” The toy half screamed. “B-But why would you want to go there?”

“We have business there. Now I suggest you tell us what you know.” 

~

Katya was beside herself with panic as her and Franky with the Soldier went down toward an area named the Flower Field. If Doflamingo wasn’t resigning from the Shichibukai, then the handover of Caesar would fail. 

Toys were once human? Not an issue. Luffy, Zoro, Kin’emon and Sanji had left or were missing? Not an issue. Her Captain potentially being murdered right now? Shockingly, that took priority in Katya’s brain. 

“We’ve been waiting for you, Commander!” A large amount of very small creatures cheered upon Franky, herself and the Soldier entering the room. 

“Well that’s new.” The freckled woman observed the small creatures. Zoro was with them. Perhaps these were the mysterious fairies that they had been warned about, as Zoro had his swords back. 

“Thank you, everyone!” The tin soldier said. Katya walked over to Zoro. The swordsman was watching the broadcast of Luffy fighting. 

“Zoro, the trade..”

“I know. Don’t worry, Katya.” The man put a hand on her shoulder. “Leave it to fate.”

“THAT’S NOT THE PLAN HERE!” She screamed at him. 

The small creatures, known as Tontatta, introduced themselves to Franky and Katya. They declared that they would all fight with her, calling her ‘Katland’. An odd nickname, but given the number of things that were making Katya confused and stressed at the present time, it was very low on the list of what was surprising. They told her that their princess was trapped in the factory and would do whatever it took to get her back. 

“Your Princess?”

“Yes, Princess Mansherry! She was taken there and held captive!”

“I was planning to blow it up.” Katya replied to them sheepishly. 

“Ehh?!”

“Don’t worry. If that’s the case, we’ll get Princess Mansherry out beforehand.”

“We’ll all come with you!” One of the Tontatta said determinedly, and the rest nodded in agreement. 

“Listen, I’m grateful for your help,” Katya said with concern. “but this needs to be a stealth mission! There’s so many of you! You’ll be seen!”

“Not if we can help it!” One of them leapt up to sit on her shoulder, a female Tontatta with wavy blonde hair and a fierce expression. “We’re fast, Katland!” A sudden whoosh and the tiny creature appeared not far from her. She hadn’t even seen her move!

“That was so fast!”

“That was Freya. She’s so quick!” Another said. 

“Wow. Maybe this will work.” Katya smiled, impressed with the tiny creatures. Freya jumped back onto Katya’s arm. They were kind of cute, and definitely speedy. 

“Hey!” A small voice could be heard from the tunnel and Katya could sense hundreds of the small creatures moving towards them, along with...

“Usopp! Robin! Where’s Law?” She demanded. 

“He was fighting Doflamingo.” Robin answered gravely.

“I should have been there with him! I shouldn’t have let Luffy drag me off and into the city!” Katya began panicking. 

“Katya-chan, do you not have faith in your Captain?” Robin said calmly. Katya’s head snapped up. 

“Yes.” She replied immediately. “I trust him with my life.”

“Then have faith in him.” Robin smiled gently and placed her hand on Katya’s shoulder. 

“I just don’t trust him with his.” She muttered. 

“Don’t worry, Katland! Lawland sounds strong!” Freya said, her small tail wiggling. 

Purupurupurupru! 

“Sanji!” Usopp answered the Den Den Mushi that was placed on the ground by them. “What’s going on?”

“We barely outran the Navy and Doflamingo. We’re gonna head for Zou. We have the Vivre Card.”

“Huh? No, wait, Sanji! Are you leaving us?!” Usopp said frantically. 

“Sorry. You’ll need to meet us there.” Sanji replied. 

“Where’s Law, Sanji-san?” Katya demanded, snatching the receiver from Usopp. 

“Law...he left the ship and Caesar to us.” Sanji said with a grimace. “He’s going after Doflamingo alone.”

~

Katya sat quietly as the others discussed strategy on the Den Den Mushi. Lost in her thoughts, she focused on the layout of the factory that was pinned to the wall. She made sure to memorise every corner, every hiding place she would be able to use in order to infiltrate the factory. Have faith in Law, she repeated to herself in her head. Have faith in him. 

BOOM!

The earth began to shake suddenly and Katya fell over hard and landed on her back. Her necklace flew from her neck and the charm flew into the wall. 

“Ow!” She cried, before looking around. “Is everyone alright?”

“Yes,” Freya said, and then hopped over to Katya. “But this came off you when you fell.” The dwarf held up the remains of Katya’s necklace out to her. 

“No...” She took it from Freya’s tiny hands looking down at the chain, which was three pieces. The stethoscope was warped and broken.

“Katya-chan, are you okay?” Robin said and walked over to her. 

“My necklace...” she held up the broken pieces, swallowing thickly to keep back tears. 

“Oh, is it a favourite of yours?”

“Law gave it to me a long time ago....” She murmured. 

“I’m sure it can be fixed.”

“I....It doesn’t matter.” Katya choked back a sob and clenched her fists in frustration. 

“Oi, Zoro, I can’t hear you properly.” Franky said loudly, and she strode over to where the others were sat, determined to distract herself from the emotional blow. 

“What’s going on?” She asked. 

“The town! It’s like it’s coming this way!” Zoro said on the other end of the line. 

CRASH!

“Tra-guy!” Luffy’s voice could be heard in the background. 

“Stupid brat.” Doflamingo could be heard as well and Katya tensed. 

“Oi, Tra-guy, why are you with Doflamin-“ Luffy began but then the next sound chilled Katya to the core. 

A gunshot. 

“You’ve pushed it too far.” Doflamingo said coldly and fired again. 

“TRA-GUY!” Luffy screamed in horror down the phone. 

“NO!” Katya screamed. “LAW!”

The broken pieces of her necklace slipped out of her grip and fell to the floor.


	35. Negotiations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya and the others set off for the factory. Doflamingo receives an unexpected call.

Every bone in Katya’s body had known that it was a bad decision and that she should stay put and help with the factory operation like Law wanted. But her heart and soul had burned with rage like she’d never felt before. 

She had grabbed a Den Den Mushi and ran, but Robin had caught her and pinned her down. The group had left for the factory with Robin holding Katya in place as they raced down the narrow passageway. 

“I’m sorry, Robin-san...” Katya sobbed. “I just-“

“I understand, Katya-san. But we need you for this mission. The others are retrieving Tra-guy, and he’s not dead yet.”

Katya nodded. “Robin-san, I need you to slap me.”

“Okay.” A sharp blow hit Katya’s face and she cursed loudly. She hadn’t expected Robin to not ask why, or to do it without warning. But she felt like she had snapped back to reality instead of drowning in her panic and grief. 

“Thanks. Let’s go.”

Robin, Usopp and Katya, with the hoard of Tontattas, made their way to the underground section of the factory. There were multiple cargo crates surrounding them as the group rendezvoused. Leo and the others were being noisy, much to Katya’s chagrin. 

“Everyone, come here.” Katya said. “I have a plan.”

“Oh?” The tin soldier said. 

“I’ve not done this very much, so it may not last, but I’ve been working on a new technique that can extend my ‘Calm’ ability. Usopp, can you come here a moment?”

Usopp warily stepped towards Katya and she focused before putting her hand on his chest. 

“Calm!” The pulse flew out of her and Usopp flailed around screaming. But no sound came out as he did. 

“You made his noise disappear!” Robin observed. 

“Yes. I can’t regulate how much of him is silenced, though. It’s a very all or nothing technique. But if anyone thinks that they would be more stealthy with it, then I can use it on you! It lasts ten minutes each time.”

Most of the Tontatta looked up at Katya in sheer awe. 

“Katland is so cool!”

“It’s like being invisible, but with sound!”

“Everyone! Tell me when you need it most, and I can make you the quietest being so alive! Now, let’s go destroy this factory!” She said determinedly. 

Law, Katya thought as the group followed her and Usopp further inside. I’ll complete this mission for us, so don’t you dare die until it’s done!

The underground port was enormous. There were multiple ships, huge cargo lines and a large number of people working there. Blowing it all up might no longer be an option, Katya thought as Leo pointed out the Executive Tower where Sugar was located. Not with so many lives at stake. 

Two men came along after Usopp made a noise, his short amount of noiselessness up. 

“Oi, you three! Which ship do you belong to?”

“Um...” Katya replied, balking. 

“Intruders!” The man stepped forward to attack, but the Tontattas stole all of their clothing before Katya could reach for a knife or Robin could sprout arms on them. They wedged the two men halfway into the ground whilst Katya watched with wide eyes. 

“I’ve never met a group of people quite like you all.” She commented. 

“Here is your change of clothes, Usoland, Robiland!” One of them said cheerily, mistaking Usopp being frightened for a plan to get disguises. 

“Katland, we’ll try to steal some for you in a moment.” Leo said with determination. 

“Ah, no need, Leo-kun.” Katya said with a smile. “I’ll be fine like this. This is already a disguise.” The woman turned to Robin. “Can I borrow your Den Den Mushi? I have an important call to make. I’ll catch up with you in a few moments, I promise. Take out Sugar if you can. I’m going to try to find the manufacturing section and see if there’s a way to destroy it from above.” 

“Here. Good luck.”

Whilst Robin and Usopp changed into their underling outfits, Katya made a plan. 

“Everyone, come here. I will make you all silent for ten minutes, but that’s all you’ll have! Use it to get into the Executive Tower.” She said determinedly. 

“Katland!”

“Everyone touch part of my body!”

She focused as the Tontattas swarmed over her. Robin and Usopp touched a finger to her. 

“CALM CALM: GROUP!” She let out a pulse. The group were silent, but could still hear each other. Leo tested it by screaming loudly and no-one came running. 

“Good luck everyone!”

She ran in the direction that the toy soldier had gone. She climbed into the elevator shaft carefully and clambered her way onto the top of the elevator. 

“Phew.” She said in relief. 

“Does this go high up?” A voice suddenly said. 

“Eep!” Katya squeaked, before looking to her left. The blonde Tontatta, Freya, had followed her. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you to get inside the factory.”

“Freya-“

“Please, Katland. Princess Mansherry is one of my oldest friends. I want to help her.”

“You know the Princess?”

Freya nodded. “I knew her as a child. She was the same age as me, and I often played with her at the palace. I can identify her!”

Katya sighed. “Okay, but you must be careful.”

“I will!” The Tontatta nodded, her tiny lanced spear under her arm. 

The two waited quietly on the top of the elevator, until eventually they could hear the sounds of the Soldier fighting inside. 

Katya considered helping but she had to keep herself concealed. The use of the Calm Calm: Group technique was unbelievably draining on her and it felt as if she had been hit with a large hammer. She pulled out the Den Den Mushi and signalled to Freya to keep silent as she dialled a number. 

Purupurupurupuru....

“Pick up, pick up..” she prayed. 

~

Purupurupurupuru!

Above the surface and in a large stone walled room of the palace, Doflamingo glanced at Law, who was tied up. The sound was coming from his coat. 

“Oh?” The Shichibukai leaned forward and took out a baby Den Den Mushi from Law’s inside pocket. The man was barely conscious and tied with chains to the Heart seat. “It seems you have a call, Law.”

KACHA.

“You’ve reached Law.” Doflamingo said with a sadistic smile. 

“Doflamingo.” The snail’s face in front of him warped into that of a young woman with freckles. 

“Ah, that must be young Katya. I thought you would be around here somewhere.” He looked down at Law, who was staring with mild panic at the Den Den Mushi. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Law there? What have you done with him?”

“Oh, yes.” Doflamingo smirked. “He’s barely alive, but he’s here. I’ve put him on the Heart seat where he should have been before he betrayed me.”

“Prove it. Let me hear him.”

“Katya-ya.” Law said gravely. “What are you playing at?”

“Good. He’s alive. Well, then. I’d like to offer you a deal.” Katya said coldly. 

“Oh?”

“You want the Calm Calm Fruit which I possess. Let Law go, and I will give it to you.”

“Katya, NO.”

“Fufufufu. Sacrificing yourself for your Captain, how noble.” Doflamingo grinned at Law’s protests. “Although from what I’ve been told, he’s more than just your Captain.”

“Vergo chatted a lot of shit when he was alive.” Katya’s voice came down the other end of the line without wavering. 

“She’s feisty, Law.” Doflamingo lifted up the man’s chin to look at Law’s face. “A woman like that...what a fun plaything she would be for me.”

Law’s expression was practically murderous. 

“Doflamingo....have you ever cared for someone in your life? Even once?” Katya’s voice came from the Den Den Mushi. 

“Not really. My terrible father, my traitor brother...they were all disappointing.”

“Then you don’t know how far someone would go to protect someone else like that.”

“It’s a tempting offer, Takimi Katya. But I’ll decline. It’ll be ever so fun to torture you two in front of one another, eh, Law?”

Law grit his teeth furiously. 

“So that’s how it is.” Katya’s voice said calmly. “Okay, well, thanks for the chat. By the way, do you have the code to the doors in the SMILE factory? It’s easier to blow things up once you can travel around, you know?”

“AS IF HE’D TELL YOU!” Baby 5 screeched. 

“Some nerve. She’s an interesting one, Law.” Doflamingo arched an eyebrow. “These Straw Hats and your little girlfriend have been causing me all kinds of grief today.”

“I told you I had nothing to do with them anymore. Our alliance ended. Katya is just a member of my crew.” Law spat. 

“Don’t try to fool me, Law. It’s written all over your face. If I had Violet look into your mind, it would reveal the truth.”

“By the way, you Flamingo dickhead.” Katya’s voice came from the Den Den Mushi and her face became a smirk on the snail. “This palace is really quite ugly.”

KACHA. 

“She’s in the palace?!” Buffalo shouted with shock. Doflamingo scowled. 

“That sneaky brat.”


	36. Kuween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya and Freya infiltrate the SMILE factory. The manager of the factory is not pleased.

Katya looked up at the building. It would be tough. Lying to Doflamingo that they’d already reached the palace would hopefully buy them some time as they would send his underlings to the wrong place. She could sense the kairoseki surrounding the factory. There were around ten guards outside, all looking incredibly tired and tense. Time to put her singing background to use. Her and Freya had formulated a plan as they had gone up the elevator shaft. 

“Hello, boys.” Katya walked, swaying her hips, towards the group of men, her noiselessness gone. 

“Oi! It’s a woman!” The men said in shock, raising their guns. Katya took off the blazer that came with her suit. There was a reason she liked this costume. It was figuring hugging in all the right places. 

“W-What?” The men balked as Katya dropped the garment to the floor. 

“A hot summer night~” she sang gently and swished her brown hair. “Fell like a net...I’ve gotta find my baby yet....”

“Woah...” the men began to swoon as Katya sang to them, beginning to lower their guns a little. “I feel like I know that voice.”

“I need you...” Katya fluttered her eyelashes, which had purple feathers on them as part of her costume. “To soothe my head...” The men were gathered around her with hearts in their eyes.

“It’s Silena Siren!” One of the men exclaimed happily. “I love her music!”

“Turn my bluuuuue heart to red...” Katya used the tip of her finger to pull the man’s chin towards her. He was shaking and puckered his lips in order to try to kiss her. 

“I changed my mind.” Katya said with a smirk. “Now!” 

She pulled her special knives from Amazon Lily from her belt and the men raised their guns again. They clicked the triggers but nothing happened. 

“What?!” The men said and frantically began to try to figure out what had happened to their guns. That was the least of their worries, however, as a whooshing sound went past and most of their belts had disappeared, their trousers falling to the ground. 

Katya kicked the man in front of her to the ground and slashed at the other men that then rushed forward to attack her, but most found themselves tripping over their trousers. 

In a few short moments, the ten men were groaning on the floor in pain. Six of them had been completely taken out by Freya, and Katya was impressed to say the least. One of the guards had a key and she took it from him. From what the beaten up man had told her, there were very few keys in existence, and he had only been given it that day as someone was ill. Freya gave Katya’s thumb a tiny high-five as the two strolled past them and straight inside the factory. 

“Men. So gullible.” 

~

The inside of the SMILE factory was not what Katya had imagined. There were hundreds of Tontatta inside working and the poor beings looked tired and thin. There were trees, too, with fruit growing on them. The artificial Devil Fruits apparently. Katya snuck in quietly with Freya on her shoulder and observed them at work. The small creatures seemed to be suffering immensely. There were many guards around, but thanks to her observation Haki, Katya had taken routes to avoid them as best she could. As the ten minutes had passed, the group effect was over, making it much easier for Katya to make herself and Freya silent as they snuck around. 

Katya observed an area by the trees with a huge tank. The dome at the top of the factory seemed to be made mostly of glass and had artificial light. The SAD tanks, if they were anything like the last ones, would be able to be disabled. 

“Freya, warn the workers to get away from the tanks.” She whispered. The dwarf nodded and sped off out of sight. 

Katya made her way through the trees as quickly as she could, using her Haki to sense when there were people around her. The Heart Pirate knew her strengths. She may not be able to fight well like Law or Luffy, but she could be sneaky, and her speed had improved greatly during her training. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in nimbleness. 

Katya slashed lines, set things on fire and used guns she stole from the guards to shoot up the tanks. The bullets made no sound until the fluid began to flow out of the tanks, alerting Doflamingo’s underlings, but it was too late for them to stop it. By the time she was finished, nearly all of the tanks were heavily damaged in some way or another. Several guards soon found her, though, and began shooting at her. She ran for cover by where Freya was desperately talking to the other dwarves. 

“What are you doing?!” The Tontatta workers freaked out as Katya approached.

“We’re getting out of here!” She dropped her Devil Fruit and said to them. 

“But Boss Kuween, she’ll vacuum us up!”

“Vacuum you?” Katya balked. 

“Takimi Katya.” An angry female voice came from behind her. “How did you get into my factory?!”

Katya looked up to see a tall, large woman with blonde bunches and freckles. She had a mask over the front of her face and Katya winced at the general similarities between them, aside from the fact that she wasn’t a giant or holding a vacuum cleaner. The Heart Pirate took off her own mask and let it fall to the floor, readying her stance. 

“Ah! Manager!” One of the men cried. “The SAD machines have been badly damaged!”

Katya grinned. “Yeah, that was me. And to answer your question, I stole a key.”

“How dare you! I sentence you to death!” The woman cried and swung her vacuum cleaner at Katya. 

The Heart Pirate dodged and aimed a knife at the vacuum cleaner holder on the woman’s back. It ripped through the holder and air shot out of it. The large woman became infuriated and kept up her barrage of swiping against Katya, who was dipping, ducking and diving out of the way. She managed to catch Katya off guard and hit her around the temple, sending the Heart Pirate skidding across the floor. 

“Stop moving!” Kuween shouted angrily and raised the cleaner above her head. 

“CALM CALM: DEAFEN!” Katya jumped. The brunette placed her hands on the woman’s ears and a pulse flew out. 

“Kuween-sama!” The men screamed as Katya jumped down and landed on the ground, a purple feather falling from one of her eyelashes. 

“I-I can’t hear anything!” The woman’s hands came up to her ears. 

“Welcome to eternal silence.” Katya said coldly, and threw one of her knives straight into the woman’s stomach. She cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor. 

“MANAGER!!”

Katya held up two of her knives and smirked confidently at the men around her, who were shouting and drawing their weapons. Freya jumped onto her shoulder, her lance at the ready. The Tontatta workers looked on in awe.

“Who’s next?”


	37. What’s The Name Of The Game?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tontattas and Katya plot to retrieve the Princess. Doflamingo launches a game.

The smell of smoke permeated the SMILE factory as Katya fought the guards there. She was beginning to tire, but thankfully her observation Haki was still reasonably reliable, as most of her opponents had been using guns. She kicked one of the men in the face before panting. A slight tricks of blood went down her forehead from where Kuween had hit her. 

“I’m Katya. Freya you know. Your friends, Leo and the others, they know me as Katland. They’re coming to rescue you.” She said to the Tontattas of the factory, who were looking at her with shock. 

“We can’t leave!” One stepped forward with tears in his eyes. “They have our Princess!”

“We’re going to save Mansherry too!” Freya said confidently. 

“We can help find-“

Out of the corner of her eye, Katya noticed a huge plume of flame that had risen higher than the glass. Her and the other Tontatta rushed to the glass by the dome to see Usopp and Sugar falling away from each other in fright. 

“Usopp-san!” She burst into a smile. “He did it!”

“The toys!” One of the Tontatta leaped up onto her arm to point at what was going on below. Light beams were appearing all over the factory as the toys began turning into humans. 

“What the-“ Katya gasped. “Come on! We can let the others in through the front door! They can help us find your Princess!” 

The dwarves nodded and ran down the stairs with Katya until they got to the front gate of the factory. There were several guards, so they hid behind a corner. 

“TREBOL-SAMA!” One of the men was at the gate and screaming loudly “WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!”

“I’m having an emergency!” The man answered back as he held up his fellow Executive.

“It’s Takimi Katya! She destroyed most of the factory! Kuween-sama is badly hurt too!”

“EH?!” 

Purupurupurupuru KACHA. 

“Doffy!” Trebol wailed into his Den Den Mushi. “Sugar....I’m so sorry, Doffy!”

“You’re too loud Trebol!” A voice that Katya recognised as Buffalo said. 

“What happened to Sugar?” Doflamingo’s cold voice came down the line. 

“PASSED OUT! SHE HAS PASSED OUT!” The man wailed.

“Is this some kind of joke?!” Doflamingo shouted furiously. 

“It’s not just that!” Trebol sobbed. “Takimi Katya has destroyed a large portion of the factory! Kuween is down!”

“Kill her! Kill all of them!” Doflamingo roared. 

“Katya...” Law’s voice came from the background and Katya’s heart surged. He was still alive!

~

The noise from outside was getting increasingly chaotic. Parts of the Colosseum fell down all over the place. Katya and the dwarves had decided to intervene and try to prevent Trebol and Diamante hurting the others before going where the Princess was supposed to be. But everything changed when the entire ground began to warp and shift.

“W-What is this?” The entire island seemed to be quaking. Freya clung to Katya’s hand as the woman steadied herself. 

“Katland!” The dwarves screamed and she opened the door to the factory. It was going upwards, as if a mountain had grown from underneath it. She spotted shapes down below. 

“USOPP! ROBIN!” She shouted down to them. 

“KATLAND!!” Leo’s group screamed as they looked up and saw Katya at the door to the factory with their fellow dwarves. Katya clung to the doors, which were made of metal. The walls were kairoseki and therefore would have been awful. 

“Citizens and guests of Dressrosa.” Doflamingo’s voices echoed across the city. Katya stumbled away from the doors.

“We’re going to find Mansherry. She’s still inside!” Freya said urgently. 

“Go and find her. And Freya?”

“Yes?”

“If you ever want to become a pirate, I would be honoured to have you aboard our ship anytime.” Katya smiled. 

The girl nodded and dwarves rushed back in to find the Princess. The trip upwards, combined with hitting the kairoseki walls repeatedly and her slight head wound, had made Katya feel horribly nauseous. She held her belly and groaned slightly. 

“Please stay where you are, lunch.”

Doflamingo’s face appeared on the wall of what looked like a dome of strings. Katya watched in disgust as Doflamingo explained the ‘game’ he wanted Dressrosa to play. 

“You kill all the people that I’m going to name now. I will award a large prize for killing each one of them. Kill or get killed. Everyone in this country will become hunters!”

Katya grit her teeth. “Fucking flamingo bastard.”

“I’ll pay 100 million Beri for each star rating!”

100 million?! Katya gasped. That was an insane amount of money. 

“These are the criminals in Dressrosa!” Doflamingo smiled sadistically as he showed pictures of the crew. 

“First, the one-stars!” Pictures of a woman called Rebecca, Robin, Kin’emon, another woman called Viola and Franky appeared. 

“Next, the two stars!” An army commander named Kyros and Zoro were shown. 

“As for key figures of each group, I give them three stars!” A man in a top hat named Sabo appeared. The Revolutionary Army?! Katya gasped. Why were they here?

Sabo’s face was followed by Luffy and Law, as well as a King Riku.

If Doflamingo was hunting for Law, then he must have gotten away, she realised. A relieved smile spread over her face. Luffy would have gone to get him, she was sure of it. 

“The next one is four stars!” Doflamingo said. Katya nearly stumbled backwards in shock as her own face appeared on the screen. “I want her brought to the palace. Preferably alive. The price will half if she is dead. She is the only one this applies to.”

Katya’s face fell in horror as the people around her began to stare at her hungrily. 

“Oh, shit.”

~

“Fucking flamingo!” Katya cursed angrily as she raced with a crowd of people holding swords and chasing her. “I’m going to set him on fire!”

Purupurupurupuru! Katya’s Den Den Mushi began to ring and she pulled it out. 

“I’M A BIT BUSY!” She shouted into it. 

“Katya!” Zoro’s voice came out of the call. “Robin!”

“Zoro?” Robin said in surprise. 

“I’m with Luffy and the others. We’re on what they call the King’s Plateau. Things are getting messy.”

“Is that Katya and Robin?” Luffy’s voice said. “Did you see it? Mingo’s a jerk, isn’t he? But Usopp’s bit was hilarious.”

“NONE OF THIS IS HILARIOUS RIGHT NOW, LUFFY!” Katya roared angrily into the phone. “I’M BEING CHASED BY TONS OF FUCKING BERI GRABBERS!”

Luffy just laughed. “You sound like Nami!”

She was about to retort but more shots fired at her. Katya lost track of what Luffy was saying for a few moments as she dived out of their way. 

“LUFFY, WHERE IS THIS PLATEAU?!” Katya shouted. “AND WHERE IS LAW?!”

“Oh, Tra-guy’s here.” Luffy said casually. “He’s tied to a chair.”

“Law!” She called out happily. “I did it! The factory looks undamaged, but the SAD tanks are burning. I destroyed the SMILE fruits too and took down the manager.”

“Katya!” Law’s voice came out. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m a bit beaten up, but I’m okay. WAIT! I’m more worried about y- oh fuck.”

She hung up the line as more people fired at her and she had to dodge. Even the factory was better than this. She turned a corner and headed back towards the domed building. 

“I HATE THIS GAME!”


	38. Don’t Break Her, Zoro!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy and Law reunite with the injured Katya. Zoro has an interesting concept of first aid.

“What is that?!”

“A balloon is falling from the sky!”

Katya looked up to see Luffy with Zoro and Law crash land onto the cobbles by the factory. 

“LAW! LUFFY!” She shouted and raced towards them, before realising that they were being chased too. 

“Oh, shit.”

“Oi! Katya!” Luffy waved with Law over his shoulder. 

“Law!” Katya sprinted to the pair and ran alongside them. 

“Katya...” Law breathed. 

“I wish I could beat both of you up right now for scaring me! But I’m glad you’re here.”

“Come back here!” People shouted behind them. 

Katya tripped on a cobblestone and fell forward slightly. She put a hand on Law to steady herself, and threw her knife at the closest one. It hit and Katya watched as the man went down clutching his shoulder. 

However, that that was when a Marine Admiral appeared in front of them.

~

Katya was running low on energy. Her energy to accurately perform Haki was beginning to run out and she was exhausted. The admiral and the huge form of a stone man appearing was just the last straw. 

“Pica!” Law gaped as Luffy dropped him to the floor. Katya rushed to his side as some of the Marines and citizens fled in the opposite direction of the towering stone man. 

“Don’t touch the chains.” Law said as she knelt down next to him. 

“Kairoseki?”

“Yes.” He looked away for a moment. “Katya-ya....I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I never should have brought you to this terrible place.”

“I made a promise to our nakama, Law. You don’t get to do stupid things alone.” Katya replied, and the two looked up together at Pica’s looming figure. If this was to be the end of the two Heart Pirates, they’d go out fighting for sure. Even if it was becoming an increasing possibility that they would be crushed to death by the foundations of Dressrosa itself. 

“Now, those who rebel against our family, I’m gonna fight you!” Pica shouted. But it was so high pitched that Katya burst out in a cackle. 

“You’re kidding!” 

“Don’t laugh at him!” People nearby were shouting frantically. “Pica-sama is very sensitive about his voice!”

Luffy was laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes as he and Katya couldn’t help but laugh. Pica raised his fist in the air and Katya paused her giggling immediately. 

“Oops.”

Luffy grabbed her hand and put Law over his shoulder as they began to run away. It wasn’t going to be enough, Katya thought with panic. They were beginning to make some headway when Law’s chains got caught and the trio were sent hurtling back. 

Zoro watched in horror as Pica’s fist slammed into the ground and Law, Luffy and Katya were lost in a cloud of dust. 

~

Katya had a pounding headache. When Pica hit, Luffy had jumped up and hanged them from a random spike by his shirt. It was messy and a piece of debris had hit Katya’s arm pretty hard. She’d heard a disgusting ‘pop’ sound. That, combined with the possible concussion she’d received earlier from Kuween, was making her feel quite bad indeed. 

Luffy jumped down to greet Zoro after the man turned up. Katya panted and clutched her left shoulder. Thankfully, it wasn’t her dominant arm, but it was still a problem. 

“Katya-ya, you’re hurt.” Law said urgently. 

“My head is killing me. I’ve definitely got a concussion of some kind and think I popped my shoulder.” The freckled woman had tears in her eyes. 

“Ah, I can help with that.” Zoro said and walked over to Katya. 

“Zoro-ya, don’t you dare try-“

“AHH!” Katya screamed as Zoro shoved her shoulder back into its socket without warning. 

“Oi! Zoro! Don’t break Katya!” Luffy exclaimed. 

The Heart Pirate’s face was now streaming with tears of pain, but mercifully, her shoulder was back in place. She gave it a gentle roll. It was still agony, but it was in the socket. 

“N-Never....do that....again.” Katya said between sobs. 

“Tch. You’re welcome.” Zoro replied grumpily as both Katya and Law glared at him angrily.

“Luffy, we need to get him out of those cuffs.” Katya changed the subject to avoid infighting, although she privately filed away the brief daydream of her and Law kicking the swordsman in the balls until he apologised. “I’d prefer to have a REAL doctor next time!” She proclaimed loudly to the green-haired man. 

“Straw Hat.” A musical sounding voice came from a blonde man walking towards them. He had a bright blue feather plume in his hair, and Katya was immediately on her guard. 

“Who are you?”

“Cabbage!” Luffy said cheerfully. 

“Pirate Hunter Zoro and Takimi Katya.” The man said, looking at the two. “I recognise you from the announcement.”

The man looked down at Law on the ground and scowled angrily. “And Trafalgar...” he raised his sword. “Law!” 

The blonde man brought his blade down but it was stopped just above Law’s head. 

“Huh?” The angry blonde looked down. Katya was crouched over Law, her knives holding back the sword. The look in her eyes was wrathful. 

“Back the fuck away from my Captain.” She gritted her teeth. 

“Stop, Cabbage!” Luffy shouted. “They’re with us!”

The blonde man lifted his sword and relaxed it to the side. Katya stood up between him and Law, her knives in hand. She was lucky the man hadn’t used armament Haki when he swung. 

Luffy talked the man down from attacking them and the man, apparently actually called Cavendish, offered them Law’s hat that he had found outside of the Colosseum. Katya snatched it from the man and kicked him in the shins. 

“Arrogant prick.”


	39. Saved By Him But Also Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law decides to tell Luffy the truth. Katya finally comes face to face with Doflamingo, with deadly consequences.

Katya carried Law’s nodachi as the group of ex-Colosseum competitors followed them on a bull that Luffy had apparently tamed. They had all declared that they would kill Doflamingo, but had turned their attention to Katya with annoyance as halfway through she yelled at them to stop having a dick measuring contest. 

Katya, exasperated, turned her attention to Law, and pulled a few bandages from her pockets that she had managed to find when one of the factory workers she’d fought had dropped a first aid kit in shock. She was glad she’d pocketed them. 

“Talk me through what to do.” She said to Law.

Law nodded and they managed to bandage up a few of his wounds, even as Luffy forced the bull to run up Pica’s stone arms. Zoro leapt off to fight Pica and Katya ended up mostly hanging on to both Law and the bull for dear life. 

“This way of travelling sucks.” She muttered nauseously. 

“Oi, Straw Hat-ya,” Law said as Katya slumped onto his chest. “I know the only way for us to survive now is to kill Doflamingo. I’ve made up my mind too. The plan that I suggested to you guys was to take down Doflamingo indirectly. But to be honest, I want to hurt him directly too!” Law glanced at Katya, who took his hand in hers. 

“It’s time, Law. He needs to know.”

“Thirteen years ago, there was a person I adored and Doflamingo killed him. His name was Cora-san. The former top executive of the Donquixote family.”

“What? He was a member of this clan?” Luffy said in surprise. 

“Yes, he was. He also saved my life and was Doflamingo’s biological younger brother.”

Katya bit her lip. “He’s the reason we’re here, Luffy. I’m sorry that we lied to you. It’s also the reason Doflamingo wants me alive.” She looked down at her hands. “I possess Cora-san’s power. He wants to kill me himself so the fruit will reform near him.”

“What a mean guy!”

“They say that those who eat a Devil Fruit sometimes inherit the will of those before them. I’d like to hope I am even slightly like the person who saved Law’s life.”

“Ah.” Luffy replied as Law looked up at Katya with an unreadable expression. “Well then. I’ll definitely kick Mingo’s ass!

~

The phone call that the group received saying that Viola had the key to Law’s handcuffs was a much needed relief to Katya and Law. Franky had also called saying that he was heading to the factory to destroy it. Katya had told him what she had destroyed inside and that the Tontatta people in there needed to save their princess. As she was doing so, Luffy directed the bull into a tunnel. 

“Thanks, Franky. I’ll leave the rest to you.” Katya hung up as the bull began to go into a large pool of water. 

“What? It’s a dead end!” She said in confusion. 

“Go back!” Law shouted. 

Katya’s head snapped around suddenly. There was a presence coming up the waterway. It was a strong and evil feeling, but it also felt muted, like it wasn’t truly there. 

“This is just a slanted water well.” Doflamingo said. “There is no shortcut in here. 

Katya pulled a knife from her belt as the man came into view. He was taller in person than Katya had anticipated. 

“Doflamingo!” Luffy growled. 

“Ah, Takimi Katya.” Doflamingo grinned sadistically at her. “We finally meet. You’re pretty in person.”

“Oh, suck a dick.” Katya snapped at him. “I hear Vergo is still waiting for your orgy on Punk Hazard.”

“Fufufufu. How rude. Bullet String!” 

Doflamingo fired at Katya and it hit her square in the chest. 

“Oh.” She uttered before she collapsed into the water, Luffy’s and Law’s screams echoing in the background, and knew no more. 

~

Law had his hands still shackles behind his back, and he wriggled desperately to get himself to sit upright. 

“You bastard!” Luffy roared at Doflamingo. 

“Luffy, get her out of the water!” Law ordered angrily. 

“It’s a shame she has to die. It would have been nice to have her to myself to spite you.”

“You bastard!” Law managed to sit up as Luffy pulled Katya from the water. The freckled woman’s breathing was shallow and blood seeped from her wound. 

“She’s hurt bad! Tra-guy, fix her!” 

“I can’t do anything with these shackles!” 

“So weak.” Doflamingo said. “For all that talk of hers, she was taken down so easily. Why did you choose them, Law? Straw Hat is dumb and this woman of yours can’t fight. You used to be a more promising man. Even when you were a kid, you were more ruthless and more cunning. Who made you into such a coward?”

Law clenched his fists. “Shut up! I’m not willing to become like you! I’ve been saved!”

“By her?”

“I have someone to live for now. But I was saved long before I met Katya.”

“By my brother Corazon, you mean?” Doflamingo taunted.

Law thought of Cora. He was sure the man would have liked Katya. She was full of spirit and had a sharp tongue, both things Cora had said that Law himself had. Katya would have found him fun to be around, and she would have laughed at him setting himself on fire. Law’s expression darkened even more as Katya lay in his lap bleeding. He would not lose her like he lost Cora. 

Two men burst in and destroyed Doflamingo’s string clone before he could properly retaliate, however. Law held Katya in his lap as Luffy declared he would make a shortcut to the Flower Field. 

“The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get the keys to your handcuffs though, right? You know how to save her with your weird powers, don’t you?” Luffy said with conviction. 

Law grimaced. He was technically right, but bursting up through the tunnel was insanity. 

“Do it.” He sighed. “For her. But be careful.” 

Luffy picked up Law and put them one under each arm. Law kept his eyes on the unconscious woman. They needed to be quick. The two Heart Pirates needed to put their faith in the Straw Hats, or Katya was going to die. 

“GOMU GOMU NO ELEPHANT GUN!!”


	40. Feathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya dreams of a certain person. Law goes against Doflamingo.

Katya dreamed once more of black fuzzy shapes. But this time, she was able to move. One fell in front of her and she held out a hand to catch it. Her vision swam into focus. 

“A black...feather?” She said in confusion. 

“You’re not supposed to be here.” A deep voice said. Katya tilted her head back up and saw a blonde man with a shirt on that was covered in hearts sat on a bench. He had a black feather coat on his back and lipstick on. 

“W-What is this place?” She looked around. It looked like the cliff by her aunt Lila’s on Forhargo, but everything was...faded, like it had been washed over with grey. 

“It’s your mind, child. But think of it more as an in between place of existence.”

“Between what?”

“Well, living and dying.” The man said, putting a cigarette in his mouth. 

“W-Who are you?” Katya said curiously. 

“I think you already know my name.” 

Katya looked into the man’s eyes and her heart leapt into her throat. The clothing, the makeup, it was just as Law had described him. “Corazon.”

“My name is actually Rosinante, but yes.”

“If I’m here, then...am I dead?!” Katya said in horror. 

“Not yet, but you are dying. Like I said, this is an inbetween place. I am here as we are connected in two very distinct ways.”

“Our Devil Fruit.” Katya breathed. 

“Indeed.” The man replied. He lit up his cigarette but then screamed as he set his coat on fire. 

“WHY ARE YOU ON FIRE?!”

The man rolled around to put out the flames and then said casually. “There was no fire.”

“Stop lying!”

Corazon took a drag of his cigarette. “The second reason, of course, is that you are suffering the same fate as me.”

Katya thought to what happened just before she had fallen to the group. 

“Doflamingo shot me.” 

“Yes. It’s why I’m here.”

“It’s not because I’m hallucinating and dying then?!”

Cora grinned. “I like you.”

“Be straight with me!”

“I wanted to say thank you.” The man pulled Katya into a hug. His embrace was there; but it felt disconnected, like it was fading in and out of existence. Katya blinked in shock and let go of the blonde. 

“W-Wha-?”

“You have continued to give Law something to live for. You and your crew. You have cared for him more than anyone, though, Katya-chan.” Corazon sighed. “He was so full of hatred when I met him. He told you his story?”

Katya nodded quietly. 

“We travelled for months to get him treated before I stole the Op Op Fruit. I died before I could ever see him use it. I may not have had a child, but I’d like to think Law is as close as I ever got.”

“He adored you. I could tell every time he spoke about you.”

“Awww! Law!” The man grinned happily and clapped his hands together goofily. “He talks about me!”

“You’re just like he described.” Katya broke into a small smile. “Thank you for saving him all those years ago.”

Corazon took her hand, folding the black feather into it. “I want you both to live, Katya-chan. Law was full of vengeance once. I don’t want him to be consumed by avenging my death. I made my choice. And my choice was to love him and save his life - I don’t regret a second. I want you to promise me this. Don’t let him throw his life away. Not for me.”

“I won’t.” 

“Furthermore, I don’t want to see Law lose another person he loves at the hands of my evil brother.”

“Law doesn’t love me.” Katya scoffed. 

“Doesn’t he?” Corazon blew out a trail of smoke from his cigarette. 

“I thought he did once, a long time ago, but...”

“Oh, child. You cannot live in your bubble of silence forever and ignore what is happening around you.”

“I....you really think he does?”

Corazon nodded and grinned at her. “Oh, Law pretends to be above all those things, but take it from someone that knows a little about loving Law. There is nothing that he wouldn’t do to protect those he cares for. Now,” he stood to his feet. “I think it’s time you got out of your head and go and tell my foolish son not to die for either of us. But...can you do me a favour when you wake up?”

“Huh?” The man’s image began to grow fuzzy and he flipped her a peace sign. 

“Tell Law he needs to tell you his name. And that I said hi!”

Black feathers clouded Katya’s vision once more and she fell into the darkness. 

~

“She’s still not awake!” Leo’s voice sounded far away as Katya began to regain consciousness. “Are you sure you did it right?”

“Of course!” Another voice, a female, said. She sounded like she was in pain. 

“Stop questioning the Princess, Leo!” A third voice said, Freya’s. 

Law, Katya tried to reach for the voice but the darkness around her was dragging her backwards. 

“Maybe she can hear us when she’s asleep! Katland! Fraland finished destroying the factory with us and Luffyland brought you to the Flower Field!” Leo poked her nose. 

Katya opened her eyes and groaned. “Stop shouting..” 

“Katland!” Freya beamed and rushed forward to snuggle her face into Katya’s neck. 

“I feel....” she scrunched up her face in confusion. “....okay.” She looked down at her hand and unfurled it. The black feather was still there. Her dream...had it been real?

“That was Princess Mansherry!” Leo gestured to the other dwarf next to him. It was a blonde girl with tears in her eyes. “Her tears have healing powers! It won’t last forever, but it will help for now!”

“Thanks...” Katya said with a grateful smile before she shot up, sending Leo and Freya flying. “Where is everyone? Law? Luffy? They were with me!”

“They’re fine!”

A plume of fire suddenly lit up Katya’s eye line. 

“Or not.”

“Cien Fleur! Spider Net!” She heard Robin cry and saw Law fall from the sky, thrown by Luffy.

“LAW!” Katya struggled to her feet and ran to him and Robin. Robin had the Heart Pirate Captain in the net and Katya surged forward. 

“WHY DO YOU HAVE ONE ARM?!” She screamed in horror. 

“Stay with us, Tra-guy-kun!” Robin said, and her and Katya held him just up from the ground. 

“Don’t you die on me, Law! I promised Corazon I wouldn’t let you die yet!” Katya took his face in her hands. 

“NICO ROBIN! TAKIMI KATYA!” Doflamingo shouted and Katya looked up. 

“Why won’t you die already?!” Katya screamed at their enemy angrily. 

“He’s not been dismissed! Bullet String!”

A rain of string shots rained down aimed for the three. Katya stood up and faced the sky. 

“I told you already. LAW ISN’T DYING HERE!” 

She pulled out her last knife and put all her willpower into it. The knife and Katya’s arm went black. 

“Armament Haki!” Robin cried out. 

“SO LEAVE US THE FUCK ALONE!” 

Katya held up her arm in front of the string shots aiming for them and roared angrily.


	41. Your Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law tells Katya something important. Dressrosa awaits the outcome of Luffy’s fight with Doflamingo with bated breath.

Katya gritted her teeth as her arm deflected the bullet string attack. It felt like an age, but a whooshing sound went past her ear and the white coat of Cavendish began deflecting them himself. Katya collapsed to her knees. 

“Freckles-san!” Robin pulled her out of the way and next to Law. Cavendish launched another attack at Doflamingo, but the Shichibukai’s attention was quickly taken away by a screaming Luffy. 

Cavendish picked up Law, whilst Robin helped Katya to her feet and they went back to where the Tontattas were. 

“We need to get out of here.” Cavendish said in a serious tone. 

“Leave me here!” Law demanded. “For the past thirteen years I’ve only lived to kill Doflamingo!” 

“Law, you are NOT-“ Katya began but Cavendish cut her off and began lecturing the man himself. 

“If Straw Hat-ya is going to win, I want to see it with my own eyes!” Law eventually admitted. 

“Then I’m staying with you!” Katya said stubbornly. 

“There’s no point in arguing with you, is there?” 

“Nope.” Katya replied gently with a tired smile. 

“Cabbage-san, can you put him down?”

“My name isn’t Cabbage!” The blonde screeched. 

“Does it even matter right now?” Katya rolled her eyes as Cavendish put Law down. Katya knelt down by Law’s side. “Can we have a moment, please?”

“Tch.” The blonde man walked away from them and sat a few metres away. 

“Law, I saw Cora.” Katya said, taking his good hand in hers and placed the black feather into it.

“What do you mean?”

“I dreamed of him when I was dying.” She murmured. “I know it sounds crazy, but I did. It was like we were connected through the Calm Calm Fruit. He told me a few things I needed to hear, to be honest. He also to tell you something.”

Law didn’t reply, just waited and stared forward. 

“He said to say hi, and that I should tell you this: it’s time for you to tell me your real name?”

Law flinched. 

“What does that mean? Is your name not Law?”

“It is, but....there’s more to it.” He turned his head to look at Katya. “You really saw him, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“My name...is Trafalgar D. Water Law.”

“D?” Katya gasped. 

“.....yes.”

Katya put her hand on his cheek. “I’m glad you told me.” She smiled fondly. “By the way...there was something else he said that stuck with me.”

“Hm?”

“He said that his choice was to love you and saving your life was something he did because of that, and he didn’t regret a single action he took.”

Law fought back tears and he hung his head. 

“That love for you....it’s something Cora-san and I have in common.” Katya said gently. Law’s gaze met hers in surprise. 

“You may be the one that takes hearts, Law, but you’ve had mine for a very long time.” She admitted and leaned down.   
The two brought their lips together and Katya felt tears run down Law’s cheeks as they did. 

“So you’d better not die.” She whispered as she rested their foreheads together. Law held her close and, despite everything happening, there was a small moment of happiness and peace in the Flower Field. The sunflowers glowed yellow and swayed gently in the breeze as the two Heart Pirates held each other tight. 

“Do you have to do that in front of me?” 

“SHUT UP, CABBAGE!”

~

Watching Luffy smash Doflamingo into the ground was one of the most satisfying moments of Law’s entire life. The Birdcage disappeared and Doflamingo lay spread eagled on the ground. Law had grabbed Luffy out of the air from the rooftop they had moved to. Katya had scolded Law for using his powers in his injured state, but he didn’t reply. 

“He did it...” Katya breathed.

“T-The winner is...LUCY!!”

Law bowed his head down into Katya’s chest and she held him tightly. “It’s over...”

‘They fight for what they love.’ Katya had said about the Straw Hats. ‘They fight for their friends and they fight to be free. They just happen to save people on the way.’

Maybe Law was starting to believe that. 

The entire country cheered loudly and cries of joy could be heard everywhere. The effect of the healing that Princess Mansherry had given Katya was clearly beginning to wear off, but she too smiled happily. 

Law looked at his tired companion with a small smile. 

“I don’t mean to bother you, Law, but I got shot earlier...” she said after a moment. 

“Ah.” Law’s head lifted and he used his Room to remove the remnants of the bullet that Doflamingo had shot Katya with before the two laid down side by side, exhausted. 

“You know,” she said with a weak smile. “I sang to distract some idiots in the factory.”

Law snorted, his first laugh for a while. “Which one?”

“Bad Case Of Loving You.” She grinned. 

“Katya-ya, singing as a distraction isn’t a good strategy.”

“It works on you.”

“That’s different.” 

“Tch.” Katya pouted.

“Katya-ya, thank you helping bring down the SMILE factory, and for all you have done whilst we’ve been here.” Law said quietly. 

“Just part of being a Heart Pirate.” Katya grinned tiredly and she scooted closer to Law, laying her head on his chest. “Speaking of, I met a young woman here who would make a very good pirate....”


End file.
